Two Portuguese windfarms commissioned

GALWAY, IRELAND - Portugal continued to strengthen its booming wind energy sector, with the commissioning of two onshore windfarms that have a combined generating capacity of 106 megawatts MW.

EDP Renováveis S.A. in Oviedo, Spain, the world's third-largest wind energy company, inaugurated its Terra Fria windfarm, which is just outside the city of Chaves, in Montalegre. With a capacity of 96 MW, the windfarm will have an estimated output of 250 gigawatt hours GWh per year, providing enough energy for approximately 140,000 people. It officially was opened by Portuguese Prime Minister José Socrates and uses 48 Enercon E82 wind turbines. Construction on the facility began in April 2009, and Terra Fria is expected to reduce carbon emissions by 117.5 tonnes and save $9.55 million in oil imports annually.

"Portugal is now one of the countries leading in terms of renewables in Europe," Socrates said. "We are the fourth-largest producer of wind-related energy [in the world]. We are the second-biggest country in Europe in terms of electricity generation based on wind energy. We have one of the largest photovoltaic plants in the world. Portugal is now presented as an example of a country that has backed renewables as a strategy to solve its energy problem. It has reduced our dependence on oil."

Ana Maria Fernandes, the chief executive officer of EDP Renováveis, added: "The Terra Fria windfarm in Montalegre further strengthens our commitment to wind power in the Iberian peninsula and particularly in Northern Portugal. Through projects like this one, we are gradually helping to reduce dependency on imported energy."

As of September 2010, EDP Renováveis had a total of 135 windfarms across the Iberian Peninsula 39 in Portugal and 96 in Spain. The company has a combined installed capacity of 2,630 MW.

Enel Green Power EGP, the renewable energy generation arm of Italian energy major Enel Spa, located in Rome, Italy, commissioned a smaller Portuguese windfarm at Alvaiázere, which has a capacity of 10 MW, using five turbines rated at 2 MW each. The new windfarm will be capable of generating 29 million kilowatt-hours KWh of electricity, enough to power about 11,000 households. CO2 emissions will be reduced by approximately 21,500 tonnes per year.

Enel plans to add a further 8 MW to the project in the coming year, bringing the company's total installed capacity in Portugal to more than 140 MW, of which 96 MW is wind-based.

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