Enel Green Power Developing Green Energy in Latin America

With its wind power, solar power, hydropower and hybrid solutions, Enel Green Power is making its mark in Latin America thanks to new facilities in Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Costa Rica.

Across Central and South America, Enel Green Power’s renewable energy operations is undergoing continuous development. The diverse range of plants being built over the whole continent show that the growth achieved by EGP in 2013 – an 11.3 percent increase of net installed capacity and 17.5 percent rise in electricity generation compared to the previous year – is continuing. That growth is being further reinforced by the geographical and technological diversification and an investment plan that will see €6.1billion of funding by 2018.

The new Apiacás hydroelectricity facility of in Brazil is the most recent construction site opened by EGP in Latin America. Located in the Western State of Mato Grosso, the plant’s total installed capacity will amount to 102 megawatts and it will generate up to about 490 gigawatt-hours per year. With three plants in cascade and seven turbines each with 14.5MW of capacity, Apiacás is a strong response to Brazil’s increasing energy demand, which is estimated to grow at an average annual rate of 4 percent until 2020.

Brazil is also the land of wind power for EGP.Construction of the Primavera facility was completed, its first wind farm in this country, was completed in February. It is part of the larger Cristal group of plants in the State of Bahia, which will reach 90MW of capacity once completed. EGP is about to finish building theCurva dos Vientos wind farm in the same state, which consists of 24 2.35MW turbines, while in the State of Pernabuco the construction of the Pedra do Geronimo, Pau Ferro and Tacaico plants, which will be part of the Fontes dos Vientos facility and whose combined installed capacity will amount to 90MW, is underway.

In Chile EGP is building new solar and wind power facilities. The Taltal wind farm, which will have 33 turbines and a total capacity of 99MW, is being built in the region of Antofagasta, while a 36MW PV solar plant is also to be built in Diego de Almagro in the region of Atacama. In Chile is also the host of a cutting-edge project being developed that combines renewable and traditional energy sources and uses both energy storage systems and the smart grid technology for distribution. In Ollagüe, more than 600 kilometres from Taltal in the interior of the Antofagasta region, a hybrid power plant is being built that consists of thin-film PV solar modules, a 30 kilowatt wind power turbine, a BESS energy storage system and an already existing diesel generator. The whole plant will be connected through an energy management system, creating an isolated micro grid that can supply energy non-stop for 24 hours to the Ollagüe village.

EGP also has construction sites open in Costa Rica and Mexico. It is helping construction of the Chucás hydropower plant, which is located between the provinces of Alajuela and San José. Once fully running, the 50MW plant will generate some 219 million kilowatt-hours each year. Last year in Mexico, EGP put into service the Bii Nee Stipa II wind farm and it is operating another three hydropower plants. In the same country, two new wind farms are being built: the 102MW Sureste I in the State of Oaxaca and Dominica in the State of San Luis de Potosí, which will have a total installed capacity of 100MW.

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