October 17, 2006
Mexico
Mexico
Mexico’s President Vicente Fox is scheduled to visit Oaxaca state next month to open the 83MW La Venta II wind generation project, local wind power proponent Fernando Mimiaga told BNamericas.
Mexico’s state power company CFE signed a US$111mn contract with Spanish firm Gamesa Eólica and compatriot company Iberdrola in September 2005 to develop La Venta II.
CFE will operate La Venta II, which is made up of 98 turbines.
Gamesa and Iberdrola are building La Venta II under Mexico’s publicly financed project model, in which payment is made in a lump sum after project completion, CFE spokesperson Gerardo Cubos told BNamericas.
Not including La Venta II, Mexico’s current wind power installed capacity is roughly 3MW: La Venta I with 2MW and Guerrero Negro with 1MW in Baja California Sur state, according to CFE’s website.
These two plants represent 0.005% of the country’s total installed capacity.
LA VENTA III
CFE is drafting the 101MW La Venta III project, for which a call for bids is due by year-end, said Mimiaga from pro-wind NGO Fundación para el Desarrollo del Corredor Eólico del Istmo y las EnergÃas Renovables.
La Venta III will be Mexico’s first wind generation independent power producer project, said Mimiago, adding some 14 companies have land reserved in the project area.
Earlier this year, the World Bank board approved a US$25mn grant from the Global Environment Facility to help support La Venta III. Construction would take a little over a year.
Regarding La Venta III, Cubos said a date for calling bids has yet to be defined.
By David Casallas
Business News Americas
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2006/10/17/fox-to-open-la-venta-ii-la-venta-iii-in-the-works/