Iberdrola has announced that it is set to begin construction of the 111MW Cavar Complex wind project in Spain this year.

Iberdrola

Image: Iberdrola’s Urkilla wind farm in Basque Country. Photo: Courtesy of Iberdrola, S.A.

Iberdrola has partnered with Caja Rural de Navarra for the construction of this wind complex. The complex will include four wind farms, which will be located in the Cadreita and Valtieera municipal areas.

Construction is expected to begin in few months and the facilities are expected to enter into service next year.

The wind complex project will generate enough clean electricity which is sufficient to power more than 46,500 Spanish households annually, while avoiding nearly 84,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

It will be powered by 32 of Siemens Gamesa’s SG 3.4-132 turbines, each with 3.4MW of rated capacity. The turbines are claimed to be the largest to be used in Spain till date. Blades of the turbines measure 64.5m and the rotor diameters will be 132m.

Iberdrola has signed long term bilateral power purchase agreements with companies to sell the output from the wind complex.

Last year, the company had signed long-term bilateral power purchase agreements (PPAs) in the country with Kutxabank, Euskaltel and Uvesco, associated to the Nuñez de Balboa photovoltaic project which is under construction in Extremadura.

The company stated: “The Cavar complex is evidence of Iberdrola’s strong commitment to renewables in Spain, where it is to start work on 700 MW of wind and photovoltaic projects this year.

“It leads wind power development in the country. This is in addition to a further 2,000 MW renewables worldwide (wind, photovoltaic and hidroelectric) planned by the group for 2019.

“As things stand, Iberdrola’s renewable installed capacity, mainly wind and hydro-electric, totals more than 15,800 MW in Spain and more than 29,500 MW worldwide.”

Last October, Iberdrola began operations at the 350MW Wikinger offshore wind farm, connecting it to the German grid. The wind farm had been constructed with a total investment of €1.4bn and generates enough clean electricity to power 350,000 German households.

This project marks the company’s entry into the Germany electricity market, where it had also secured construction rights of two other offshore wind farms including Baltic Eagle (476MW) and Wikinger Süd (10MW).