Iberdrola makes progress on £90.8m wind energy project

Iberdrola, the Spanish power company, reports significant construction progress on the most comprehensive wind energy infrastructure project currently underway in Spain – the construction of three of four windfarms (Cordel-Vidural, Capiechamartín, and Panondres) planned for the region of Asturias, which require an £90.8 million-plus investment.

The company adds that it will start construction of the fourth project – Verdigueiro – once administrative authorisations have been obtained. The new capacity – 130MW of wind power – will allow the energy company to triple the installed power it has so far in the region.

In a statement, Iberdrola says that it has commenced the assembly work of the wind turbines, having finished the civil work, planned the arrival of materials at the windfarm sites, and planned out the different actions to be performed in the field. As many as 400 people will be involved in carrying out these tasks, the company adds.

Set at an altitude of 800 metres, and in an area with constant weather shifts that make work difficult, large wind turbines are already being erected. The blades are 56 metres in length, while the nacelles weigh as much as 126 tonnes, and the towers reach between 80 and 93 metres in height.

In order to reach the level of the windfarms, the materials (towers, nacelles and blades, amongst others) all need to be transported along narrow, single-access roads with numerous slopes and bends of up to almost 180 degrees. To carry this out has required exhaustive planning to avoid effects on the planned works and to make possible the arrival of up to 200 daily shipments of different materials, the company explains.

“The wind farms will consist of SG114 wind turbines, with a unit capacity of 2.62 MW: Cordel-Vidural (37 MW) is located between the municipalities of Navia, Valdés and Villayón; Capiechamartín (34 MW) is located between Tineo and Valdés; Verdigueiro (36 MW) will be built between Tineo and Villayón and Panondres (21 MW) between Villayón and Valdés,” the statement notes, adding that the construction of these projects is contributing to the revitalisation of the local industrial framework and will make it possible to generate up to 1,000 jobs.

Almost all field and civil works will be carried out Asturian companies, such as Hormavasa and Horvalsa, Canteras Rencanos, Deymet, Excade, Posada, Méndez y Mota, Gruas Roxu and Taxus. 

The project is being developed by ERPASA, while the manufacturing of the wind turbine towers is being carried out at the Windar facilities in Avilés.

“In this way, the company is contributing to the consolidation of a model in which Asturian companies and the generation of employment are oriented towards sectors of the future, such as renewable energies. 

“Once in operation, the wind farms will generate energy to supply more than 100,000 homes and avoid the emission of 65,500 tCO2/year,” the statement concludes.