Infrastructure / Energy futureEnergía renovable en Aragón

A few weeks ago we wrote about Madrid-based Iberdrola Renewables and its six offshore wind farm projects, with an aggregate generation capacity of 3,000 MW, at locations off the coasts of the Spanish Atlantic provinces of Cádiz and Huelva and the Mediterranean province of Castellón. We like this, well, energetic ciompany — and it is in the news again: The company and the savings bank Caja Rural de Aragón (Cajalón) have formed a joint venture to develop clean energy installations in the Aragon region of north eastern Spain. The new company, in which Iberdrola Renewables holds an 80 percent share and Cajalón 20 percent, plans to develop clean energy installations with a total capacity of some 650 MW, including a number of wind farms and a solar thermal plant. The projects should be completed in four-years, although this will depend on the time required to obtain planning permission. The thermal solar plant will be the region’s largest, with a 50 MW capacity, and will take up a 245 hectare site between the municipalities of Azaila y La Puebla de Híjar in the province of Teruel.

Iberdrola is the leading developer of wind farms in the region and already operates installations totalling 283 MW. The company is prepared to invest another €1 billion in the region in coming years, which would create an estimated 350 jobs during the construction stage and some 250 permanent jobs. In Aragon, Iberdrola now operates a 1.4 MW mini-hydro plant, and eight wind farms: Tardienta I (49.5 MW), Tardienta II (44.2 MW), La Plana II (16.5 MW), La Plana III (21 MW), Fuendetodos I (46 MW), Fuendetodos II (47.6 MW), Entredicho (36 MW), and La Torrecilla (16.5 MW). In addition, the company was recently awarded a contract to build the 6 MW El Espartal wind farm, which will supply electricity to the Expo 2008 event to be held this summer in Zaragoza.