Enel Green Power (“EGP”) has begun construction of the new wind farm “Talinay Poniente”, which will be composed of 32 wind turbines for a total installed capacity of 61 MW.
Once fully up and running the wind farm will be able to generate up to over 160 GWh per year, the equivalent of the electricity needs of about 60,000 Chilean households, and will therefore avoid the emission of over 130,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. The new wind farm is scheduled to come on line in the first half of 2015.
The total investment required to build the new plant amounts to, approximately, 140 million US dollars.
The project is supported by a contract to supply energy to regulated-market customers. The contract was awarded in November 2013 following a tender, carried out for Chile’s Central Region Transmission Network (SIC) by a total of 26 distributors. The energy generated by the wind farm will be delivered to SIC’s transmission grid.
The wind farm is located in the Coquimbo region, across from the Talinay Oriente wind farm (90 MW), which has been operating since 2013.
In Chile, Enel Green Power owns and operates two hydro plants for a total installed capacity of 92 MW, as well as the 180 MW in total installed wind capacity from the Talinay Oriente and Valle de los Vientos wind farms. Over more, the company is currently building its largest Chilean wind farm (Taltal, with a 99 MW capacity) and three solar plants for a total capacity of 136 MW. EGP is also exploring a number of geothermal concessions with a potential capacity exceeding 100 MW.