ACCIONA Energia has been awarded 585.7 GWh of wind power capacity through Mexico’s first long-term power auction in the wholesale electricity market.
The company plans to build a 168 MW wind farm, El Cortijo, in the state of Tamaulipas. Expected to enter service in 2018, the project will be located approximately 40 kilometers south of the city of Reynosa.
El Cortijo will comprise 56 3-MW ACCIONA Windpower turbines, which will generate electricity equivalent to the consumption of around 350,000 homes in the area. The energy produced will be supplied to the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) under a 15-year contract. The company plans to start construction on the project in 2017.
Last year, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with the CFE to work together on renewable energy projects in the country. ACCIONA Energía currently owns and operates 556.5 MW of wind in Mexico, including four projects in Oaxaca that account for around 20% of the operational wind power capacity in the country. In addition, the company has built another 303 MW for its customers.
The auction, in which 227 bids were received from 69 tenderers, was organized by the National Energy Control Center of Mexico and awarded a total of 5,385.72 GWh to 11 bids from 7 tenderers.
