Iberdrola Engineering, the Spanish energy giant’s engineering subsidiary, has been awarded a contract to build its first wind farm in the country through its US subsidiary, Iberdrola Energy Projects Inc. The facility is being built in Groton in the State of New Hampshire, and construction work began at the end of October with final completion scheduled for 15 November 2012. The facility will comprise 24 model G-87 wind turbines manufactured by Gamesa, each rising to a height of 100 metres with an individual capacity of 2 MW. Total generating capacity at the wind farm will be 48 MW.
The wind farm is being built for Iberdrola Renewables USA under a "turnkey" contract, and the range of duties to be carried out includes building the access road, foundations and collector system, erecting the wind turbines, and constructing an O&M building. Iberdrola Engineering is the leading wind farm constructor in Spain, Poland and Mexico, and is also building wind farm facilities in Honduras, Brazil, Romania, Kenya and Bulgaria.
The United States represents a strategic growth area in Iberdrola Engineering 's internationalisation process. The Groton contract is a further addition to the project that was recently awarded to the Company's subsidiary to provide audit & compliance services for the MPRP (Maine Power Reliability Program) project commissioned by Central Maine Power, a company belonging to Iberdrola USA. Iberdrola Engineering also recently implemented its launch of an integral service model for grid projects at Iberdrola USA.
Just a month after being awarded its first wind farm construction contract in the US, Iberdrola Engineering was awarded a second project in the United States, a 28.5-MW facility in Hoosac, in the State of Massachusetts. As with the Groton facility, the Hoosac wind farm will be built as a "turnkey" project for Iberdrola Renewables USA . The Hoosac wind farm, due for completion in November 2012, will comprise 19 wind turbines manufactured by General Electric, each with a capacity of 1.5 MW.
The company also recently began work on its first wind farm near Poitiers in France: a 10-megawatt facility at Pamproux, some 40 kilometres from Poitiers. The wind farm will be equipped with 5 wind turbines, each with a potential of 2 MW, and the company has undertaken construction for Iberdrola through its French subsidiary.
Iberdrola Engineering 's duties under the project include construction of the infrastructure required to transport and assemble the wind turbines (access roads, assembly platforms and foundations for the turbines), and completion of the electrical infrastructure to transmit the energy generated into the grid. This latter part of the project includes building the transformers for the turbines and creating medium-tension electrical circuits and switching stations. Iberdrola Engineering says it is the leading wind farm constructor in Spain, Poland and Mexico, and it is also currently building wind farm facilities in Honduras, Brazil, Romania, Kenya and Bulgaria.
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