MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay inaugurates second wind farm with 10 MW capacity

Cerro de los Caracoles, second wind farm in Uruguay

Uruguay officially inaugurated on Wednesday a 10 MW capacity wind turbine park financed and equipped by Spain. The park belonging to Uruguay’s power company UTE is one of the many different efforts to broaden and diversify energy generation in the country.

In Uruguay most power is hydroelectric and supported by fuel oil plants. However one of the worst droughts in decades affecting the country’s fluvial system basin has exposed how vulnerable Uruguay is, particularly since demand is increasing and there are no possibilities of building more dams.

The 67 metres tall turbines with three blades each and an 80 metres diameter were installed on Cerro de los Caracoles, a hill top in Maldonado, one of the highest areas of the rather flat country and a few miles away from the sea.

The operation was done taking advantage of a debt scheme from Spain which allows pardoned-debt-money to be diverted to environment conservation projects which contract Spanish equipment and know-how.

Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez, Industry, Mines and Energy minister Daniel Martínez, the president of the government’s power company UTE Beto Ruchansky and Spanish ambassador Aurota Días-Rato were present at the opening ceremony.

This is the second wind farm operating in Uruguay; the first one is a private investment which sells power to UTE that has the monopoly of electricity distribution in the country.

According to Ruchansky there are another twenty similar wind energy projects with five of them expected to become operational in the coming 18 months.