GROUNDBREAKING BEGINS ON THE CERRO DE
HULA WIND FARM IN HONDURAS
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The project, with planned installed capacity of 102 MW, will be powered by
Gamesa G87-2.0 MW turbines
Honduran President Porfirio Lobo presided over the groundbreaking ceremony for the Cerro de
Hula wind farm, which will feature installed capacity of 102 MW powered by 51 Gamesa G872.0 MW turbines. Power company Mesoamérica Energy will operate the wind farm. Gamesa was
represented by Dirk Matthys, Chairman and CEO for North America, and Aitor Díaz de Lezana,
Manager for Turn-Key Latin-America projects.
A partnership between Gamesa and Iberdrola Ingeniería received a contract to build the Cerro
de Hula wind farm, and the turnkey project has a scheduled completion period of 18 months.
Gamesa will manufacture, supply, transport and assemble the turbines and perform oversight
and commissioning work.
The project, located 24 kilometres from Tegucigalpa, will require an investment of
approximately 260 million dollars (190 million euros), financed almost entirely by the US ExportImport Bank and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI).
The wind farm has a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) contract with the Empresa
Nacional de Energía Eléctrica for annual capacity of 100 MW.
Creation of 800 jobs
"Commissioning will take place in December, while the ribbon-cutting ceremony could be held in
March 2011, paving the way for full operational start-up", said the President of Honduras during
the groundbreaking gathering.
“This project represents the perfect combination of economic growth generated in the United
States (the turbines will be built at Gamesa factories in Pennsylvania), with the creation of 800
jobs in turbine manufacturing, and economic development in Honduras, in the form of the
benefits generated by a clean, sustainable and stable source of electricity”, said United States
Ambassador to Honduras Hugo Llorens. “The price of wind doesn't fluctuate".
Gamesa in Latin America
Latin America is one of Gamesa’s strategic markets, where the company has installed more than
200 MW in five countries – primarily Mexico, Argentina and Ecuador. Gamesa in 2010 landed
agreements and/or orders totalling more than 828 MW in Honduras, Brazil, Mexico and Costa
Rica.
The company in December 2010 announced that it will begin manufacturing turbine
components in Brazil, the manufacturing and operational hub from which Gamesa will expand
its business in surrounding countries, including Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.
As a wind farm developer, Gamesa has a project pipeline of more than 400 MW spanning
several regions, mainly in Mexico.