Wind Energy

Cerro de Hula Wind Farm Delivers Power to National Utility in Honduras

Globeleq Generation, an operating power company, announced that it has celebrated the launch of Cerro de Hula (CdH), the first wind park in Honduras, on February 22, 2012. Globeleq Mesoamerica Energy (GME), a joint venture between Globeleq and Mesoamerica Power, has executed the 102 MW CdH wind project.

The wind energy project has used the wind turbines of Gamesa Wind US. The wind farm has been installed with 51 units of Gamesa’s G87 2.0 MW wind turbines. The wind power facility had commenced operation in December 2011.

Under the terms of the 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA), the wind farm delivers power to Empresa Nacional de Energia Electrica (ENEE), an electrical power company owned and operated by the government of Honduras. The CdH wind facility will generate over 360 GWh per year, which is sufficient to power 150,000 households in Honduras.

With the addition of renewable wind energy, the country’s dependency on high cost fossil fuels for power generation has been minimized, said Mikael Karlsson, CEO of Globeleq. He also added that the project continues to strengthen the company’s commitment to sustainable development as well as to cut down greenhouse gas emissions.

Globeleq’s Managing Director, Jay Gallegos stated that the CdH wind project has secured a strong support from ENEE as well as from the local communities and key members of the Honduras’ government.

The park has submitted a proposal for a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol. The CDM will allow CdH to earn certified emission reduction (CER) credits to sell into the global carbon trading markets.

Torbjorn Caesar, Chairman of Globeleq, remarked that the CdH facility is a major asset to Honduras, as it generates nearly 6% of power used in the region.

By José Santamarta, www.globeleq.com/