Abengoa has been selected to build and operate a new 70 MW wind farm in Palomas, Uruguay. The project is planned to comprise 35 2-MW wind turbines, and construction is scheduled to start in early 2014, with an approximate duration of 14 months.
The company will be responsible for the development, engineering and construction of the plant, as well as its subsequent operation and maintenance for a 20-year period. Abengoa says an operational leasing agreement, under which the Uruguayan state electricity company, UTE, will make a monthly payment, will generate revenues of $500 million by the end of the maintenance period.
Abengoa notes it now has two 50 MW wind farms that it has been awarded in Uruguay. The first, in Peralta in the Tacuarembo region, is in the final stage of construction, while work at the second site, in Cerro Colorado in the Flores region, is about to begin. Both projects have signed 20-year power purchase agreements with UTE.