Enel Green Power (“EGP”) has started operations at its first wind farm in Mexico, Bii Nee Stipa II.
The plant, which leverages on the excellent wind resources that characterise the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, located in the Mexican State of Oaxaca, has a load factor of around 40%. The fully-operational plant is able to generate over 250 million kWh of clean energy annually, therefore avoiding atmospheric emissions of over 100 thousand tonnes of CO2 every year.
With the start of operations of this new facility, EGP has strengthened its footprint in the promising Mexican renewables market, which the Group has been present in since 2007 in the hydroelectric sector. Bii Nee Stipa II now lines up alongside the three hydroelectric plants which, with a total installed capacity of 53 MW, generated over 230 million kWh of zero-emissions energy in 2011.
Developed and built by Gamesa – a partner with a strong presence in the Mexican market - the plant is comprised of 37 Gamesa wind turbines of 2 MW each, for a total installed capacity of 74 MW. Total investment for the construction of Bii Nee Stipa II amounts to about 160 million US dollars.
"Bii Nee Stipa II is Enel Green Power’s first venture into wind power technology in Mexico" stated Francesco Starace, CEO of Enel Green Power. "We will continue to grow in the Country with this technology as well as hydro, a sector in which we are already present in Mexico. We have development plans in this important Country, encompassing all the generation technologies we have at our disposal, given the major opportunities we can see in this sector.”