Acciona Energia starts construction work on its fifth wind farm in Mexico

9 March, 2017

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Spain-based Acciona Energia announced it has started construction work on the fifth wind farm under its ownership in Mexico: El Cortijo, a 168-megawatt (MW) facility located in the Northern State of Tamaulipas, which will represent an investment of US$ 221 million (210 million euros at current exchange).

It is the first renewable energy project resulting from the electric power auctions organized in Mexico within the framework of the country’s Energy Reform.

Acciona won the first tender a total of 585.5 GWh of electric power and the corresponding clean energy certificates, which will be supplied by this wind farm.

El Cortijo, located 40 kilometers south of Reynosa, will have fifty-six AW 125/3000 turbines of Nordex/ACCIONA Windpower technology, each one with rated power of 3 MW, a rotor diameter of 125 meters and a 120-meter-high concrete tower.

“The installation is expected to enter service in August 2018 and will generate the equivalent of the electricity consumption of around 350,000 Mexican homes, avoiding the emission of over 366,000 metric tons of CO2 to the atmosphere per year,” said the company in a press release.

The construction and operation of El Cortijo and its associated activities will represent a contribution to Mexico’s GDP of around US$ 232 million during its working life, according to figures from the socioeconomic impact study made for the company by the consultancy EY and presented last May.

Sonora is next

In the next few months Acciona Energia will begin construction work on the 339-MWp Puerto Libertad photovoltaic complex in Sonora. A part of it is related to the second wholesale electricity market auction held last September in which the company was awarded 478.3 GWh, and the rest corresponds to the PPA signed with a subsidiary of the Tuto Energy Group, a partner in this solar project.

With this plant, which is expected to be completed in the second semester of 2018, Acciona Energía will reach 1,063 MW of total installed capacity under its ownership in Mexico – 68% in wind power and 32% in photovoltaic – and will produce electricity of renewable origin equivalent to the consumption of almost 2 million Mexican homes.

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