ACCIONA Windpower has opened a plant in Mexico to produce concrete towers for wind turbines.
The plant, located near Monterrey, produces concrete segments for the wind turbine towers in the Ventika and Ventika II wind farms being built by ACCIONA for Fisterra Energy, Cemex and other private investors.
ACCIONA says the use of concrete in wind farm towers means that greater tower heights can be achieved; this facilitates the local supply and manufacture of the segments because they can be produced in places close to the wind farms and do not require highly specialized labor; production and transport costs are reduced; concrete is less subject to price fluctuations than steel; and major synergies can be exploited with the processes involved in laying the foundations for the wind turbine towers.
The Ventika and Ventika II wind farms, with a total capacity of 252 MW, are powered by eighty-four 3 MW ACCIONA Windpower turbines. The company will undertake the operation and maintenance of the wind farms for 15 years, starting from their entry into service, which is planned for the second semester of 2016.
These wind farms represent the biggest project to date worldwide using concrete towers implemented by ACCIONA. The wind farms will be equipped with AW116/3000 wind turbines with a rotor diameter of 116 meters, the rotor being situated at a hub height of 120 meters.
