ACCIONA's first wind farm in Costa Rica inaugurated

It has involved an investment of 125 million dollars

Chiripa, with a power of 49,5 MW, consists of 33 1,5 MW wind turbines using ACCIONA Windpower technology.

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The Vice President of Costa Rica, Ana Helena Chacón, inaugurated this weekend in Tilarán (Guanacaste) the Chiripa wind farm, with a power of 49,5 MW, owned by a consortium comprising ACCIONA Energía (65%) and the local group Ecoenergía (35%).

 

The event was attended by, among others, the CEO of ACCIONA Energy, Rafael Mateo; the Ambassador of Spain in Costa Rica, Jesús Rodríguez-Andía; the Directors of the Ecoenergía Group, Salomon Lechtman and Samuel Viroslav; the Mayor of Tilarán, Jovel Arias, and representatives of the ICE (Costa Rican Institute of Electricity), among other authorities.

 

In her speech, the vice president stated that Costa Rica must redouble its efforts to produce more energy with clean technologies and he pointed out that investment in these energies “is important to make us a more competitive country.”

 

 

 

Rafael Mateo, for his part, indicated that the experience of Investing in Costa Rica has been satisfactory in all respects and expressed his hope that this first milestone of ACCIONA Energía in the country will continue in the future.

 

 

 

The Chiripa park, which has entailed an investment of 125 million US dollars, entered into commercial operation in July of this year and the electricity generated will be sold to ICE under a 20-year contract.

 

El wind farm is made up of 33 wind turbines AW 77/1500, ACCIONA Windpower technology, with 1,5 MW of power and 77-metre rotor diameter, mounted on 80-metre-high steel towers.

 

The facility is located in a high-altitude location. wind resource, which will allow the park to generate more than 200 million kilowatt hours (kWh) annually. This production is equivalent to the consumption of 80.000 homes and will prevent the emission of some 192.000 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere from coal-fired power plants.

 

Due to the construction of the wind farm complexThe ACCIONA-Ecoenergía consortium launched a social management plan consisting of incentives for companies in charge of the work to hire local employees, and actions aimed at meeting the needs of the communities surrounding the park.