Located in the Cerro Largo department, the wind power project will be the first of its type in the country.
The 50MW Melowind project will have a capacity to generate 200 million KWh of clean energy annually, upon completion.
Uruguay’s state power company UTE will purchase the electricity generated at the plant, under a 20-year power purchase agreement.
Enel Green Power CEO Francesco Venturini said, "The start of work on the Melowind plant, together with the opening of EGP offices in the country, mark the company’s entry into the promising market of Uruguay, a country with abundant natural resources, rapid economic and demographic growth and a stable regulatory framework."
"These characteristic represent the drivers of our growth strategy, which is based on technological and geographical diversification and provides for us to enter one or two new high-potential markets each year," added Venturini.
Uruguay has an installed capacity of approximately 2.9GW, with about 62% of power generated from renewable resources.
The government intends to add 1,200MW of new operational wind capacity in the country by 2015.
Image: Enel Green Power commences construction of $98m wind farm in Uruguay. Photo: courtesy of xedos4 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
