Spanish energy company Acciona Energia has started construction work at the 168MW El Cortijo wind farm, located in Tamaulipas, Mexico.

The El Cortijo wind farm will be located 40km south of Reynosa. The wind farm will consist 56 of 3MW Nordex/Acciona Windpower turbines. The rotor diameter of the turbines is 125m and will be installed on 120m long concrete towers.

Estimated cost of the wind farm is €221m and the project is the first renewable energy project resulting from the Mexican electric power auctions, conducted within the framework of the country’s energy reform.

The El Cortijo wind farm is expected to start commercial operations in August next year and will generate enough electricity to power about 350,000 Mexican homes, while offsetting more than 360,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions, annually into the atmosphere.

Acciona has won a tender to supply a total of 585.5GWh of electric power and it will receive the corresponding clean energy certificates for the wind farm.

Acciona Energía México director Miguel Angel Alonso said: “Completing the renewables projects that are awarded to us in the shortest possible timescale, and with the quality guarantees required, are ongoing challenges for ACCIONA.

“We are convinced that the development of the El Cortijo wind farm will allow us to ratify this commitment, through which we set out to contribute to the development of renewable energy sources in México and the rest of the world.”

By the end of next year, Acciona is expected to have renewable energy portfolio of more than 1GW, which is equivalent to the power consumption to nearly 2 million homes.

In the coming months, Acciona will start the construction on a 339MW Puerto Libertad solar plant in Sonora, Mexico.


Image: Acciona starts construction of wind farm in Mexico. Photo: Courtesy of Acciona S.A.