Accompanied by the Mayor of Plasencia, Fernando Pizarro, and the Chief Operating Officer Gas & Power of Naturgy, Manuel Fernández, the President of the Regional Government of Extremadura, Guillermo Fernández, inaugurated the Merengue Wind Farm earlier this morning – the first to be built in Extremadura.
The event was also attended by Naturgy’s Director for Generation, Ana Peris, the company’s Director for Generation Development, Carlos González, and the Naturgy’s Renewables Development Manager in Extremadura, Ana Ruiz.
The Economic Affairs and Infrastructures Councillor of the Regional Government of Extremadura, Olga García, the Central Government Delegate in Extremadura, Yolanda García, and the Speaker of the Regional Parliament of Extremadura, Blanca Martín, also attended the event, as well as several councillors from Plasencia City Council and other institutional and business officials from the region.
“This infrastructure will offset more conventional power generation sources, therefore reducing emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gasses by 120,000 tonnes per year and cutting CO2 emissions by three million tonnes over its entire life span. By developing this project, Naturgy is strengthening its commitment to Extremadura. Furthermore, this project demonstrates the company’s strong commitment to increasing renewable power generation, as reflected in our 2018-2022 Strategic Plan”, said Manuel Fernández, Chief Operating Officer Gas & Power at Naturgy.
In turn, the Mayor of Plasencia, Fernando Pizarro, said that “processing the construction of this wind farm took a long time and required significant coordination between the Regional Government and the City Council. This is the first wind farm in Extremadura and the procedures were new for both authorities. But, thanks to this coordination and the strong interest from Naturgy, the Merengue Wind Farm is being inaugurated today. Today is a day of thanks and hope for continued joint effort on renewable energies”.
Merengue Wind Farm
The Merengue Wind Farm has an installed power of 40 megawatts (MW) and will generate around 155 GWh per year, equal to the annual electricity consumption of 44,000 homes. This project required an investment of some 40 million euros and created approximately 250 jobs during its construction.
The wind farm has a total of 15 wind turbines. They are Siemens Gamesa SG 2.6-126 wind turbines, with a 2,625 MW unit capacity and a rotor diameter of 126 metres.
Presence in Extremadura
Besides the Merengue Wind Farm, the company is developing other projects in Extremadura. These projects include the Las Jaras photovoltaic power plant located between La Albuera and Badajoz with an installed power capacity of 50 MW, and the Miraflores photovoltaic power plant in Castuera, which will have an installed power capacity of 20 MW.
Furthermore, Naturgy is currently studying a number of other projects for development in the region, thus confirming the company’s commitment to Extremadura.
Naturgy
The renewables subsidiary of the multinational power company closed 2018 with an installed capacity in operation of 1,179 MW in Spain (1,012 MW from wind, 109 MW from mini-hydroelectric plants and 58 MW from cogeneration and photovoltaics).
The company plans to build a number of renewable energy projects in various autonomous regions over the coming months that will double its size by the end of 2019.
Naturgy is making a strong commitment to increasing renewable generation, as reflected in its Strategic Plan, which includes an investment of 1 billion euros throughout Spain by 2020.
