Enel/Endesa awarded 540 MW of wind capacity in Spanish 3GW auction

Enel, acting through its Spanish subsidiary Endesa’s renewable company Enel Green Power España (EGPE), has been awarded 540 MW of wind power capacity in Spain, following the tender for 3,000 MW of renewable energies.

The tender was launched by the Spanish Government to help the country achieve its target to cover 20% of energy consumption from renewables by 2020.

The Enel Group will be investing approximately €600 million (US$672 million) in the construction of the wind capacity, which is part of the investment outlined in its current Strategic Plan. The projects, expected to enter in operation by 2019, will sell their energy in the Spanish pool market while the Spanish Government will provide incentives, in terms of yearly capacity payments, to guarantee a steady return over 25 years of plants lifetime.

The wind projects will be located in the regions of Aragona, Andalusia, Castile and León and Galicia, areas which enjoy high levels of wind resources. Once up and running, the wind facilities will generate approximately 1,750 GWh per year, while avoiding the emission of around 1,050,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.

EGPE is fully owned by Endesa Generación and operates around 1,675 MW of capacity in Spain, of which 1,618 MW comes from wind, 43 MW from hydropower and 14 MW from other renewable energy sources like solar and biomass. EGPE plants generate around 4 TWh of green energy each year.

Antonio Cammisecra, Enel’s Head of Global Renewable Energies, said:

“We are proud of this important award as it allows us to re-focus on Spain as a growth opportunity for our renewable operations, building on an already-significant presence in the green energy sector. Given the importance of the Spanish market for the Enel Group, we are looking forward to bringing these new renewable facilities on line and to bringing our worldwide experience back to Spain, where we had started many years ago.“