Construction of Eólica del Golfo 1, the first Yucatan clean-energy park that uses wind to generate electricity, is currently 50% complete and will begin testing in March to be ready before June 2018, informed the company Viva Energía.
During a media tour, Viva Energía informed that six wind turbines of the 28 that this park will have are completely installed, with the capacity to generate 70 megawatts that could feed 45 thousand houses throughout the year.
Nancy Gamboa Mancilla, manager of Social Sustainability of the Company, said the park consists of 1,300 hectares and contains 28 privately owned plots for which they made a usufructo contract, through which their owners are paid rent for use of the land and with the clause that they can continue access to their land to perform their daily activities.
She also said that of the total land, the wind farm only uses 4% for the installation of wind turbines, and permitting the surface around the bases to be used for any agricultural or livestock activity.
With the arrival of the latest wind turbines in December, now Viva Energía is in the process of assembly of the machines, which takes around 5 days each, including the towers and then the blades.
“We estimate that the 28 wind turbines will be installed by the second week of March and starting then we will start to do tests with the substation and the rest of the electrical installation. By the second quarter of this year (the park) will be inaugurated,” she said.
Regarding the wind speed, the turbines start operating with a speed of 3 meters per second, and they support up to 90 kilometers per hour. In case of high intensity winds such as a hurricane, the motor protects itself and the propellers rotate so as not to be damaged.
Gamboa Mancilla said that several companies are interested in buying the energy generated on-site. This represents 6% of the total consumption of Yucatan, so they expect the CFE to lower their rates since energy will be generated locally.
“We will save the CFE 6% of the total consumption of Yucatan, since the energy that we will generate will remain in the state, so we hope that what the Commission saves, it will use for other expenses and can lower their rates,” she said.
Each tower is composed of five sections of tubes, a hub (control center), the three blades and the engine. The towers measure 120 meters high and each of the blades 56 meters, giving a total height of 176 meters.
By Punto Medio:
Fernando Galaz
