Iberdrola Renovables starts up Hungary wind farm plants

Iberdrola Renovables, the world’s leading wind power company, now has nearly a 50% share of the Hungarian wind energy market following the start up of its Amundsen, Scott and Csoma II plants (additional 70MW).

These new installations cement the company’s position as a reference in the Hungarian wind power sector, where new projects are also underway to build a further 100 MW of capacity, and mark a step forward in its ambitious targets in Eastern Europe.

The Scott wind farm has capacity of 36 MW and is located in the town of Nagyigmad. The Amundsen (26 MW) and Csoma II (8 MW) plants are in Ikervar.

The three facilities are equipped with G90 wind turbines (unit capacity 2 MW) provided by Gamesa, a priority supplier for Iberdrola Renovables in Hungary.

Prior to the installation of this infrastructure, Iberdrola Renovables’ assets in operation in Hungary included the 50 MW Kisigmand wind farm, the largest in the country, and the 38 MW Csoma I facility.

Therefore, the company now has five wind farms in Hungary, with combined capacity of 158 MW. Total wind capacity in Hungary stands at 330 MW. This capacity will enable the generation of enough energy in Hungary to supply 220,000 households, while curbing yearly CO2 emissions by 130,000 tonnes.

All the group’s Hungarian sites are built by subsidiary IBERDROLA INGENIERÍA Y CONSTRUCCIÓN, now one of the world’s leading energy engineering firms.

A leader in Eastern Europe

Geographical diversification is one of Iberdrola Renovables’ main competitive advantages. Its international strategy focuses on growing in markets with favourable regulatory systems and high development potential in the renewable energies sector.

At present, the United States and Europe are the company’s key markets, while Eastern Europe has been earmarked as a major target area for achieving growth in the coming years.

With an Eastern European energy project portfolio of close to 4,500 MW, Iberdrola Renovables has become the region’s industry leader in the last few years.

In addition to its Hungarian sites, the company operates four wind farms in Poland with a combined capacity of 160 MW. Further projects are under development in Romania, Estonia and Bulgaria.

One of the highlights is Dobrogea in the Constanza area of Romania. This, the world’s most ambitious onshore wind project, envisions the commissioning of up to 50 farms with a combined capacity of 1,500 MW. Iberdrola Renovables was recently granted access to the transmission network by the Romanian network operator Transeléctrica, to connect the first 600 MW of power corresponding to this project to the grid.

Iberdrola Renovables, with operations in 23 countries, built more renewable capacity in 2010 than any other utility in the world, bringing 1,780 megawatts (MW) on stream. This has helped strengthen the company’s status as the global leader in renewable energies by capacity (12,532 MW at year-end 2010) and output (25,500 GWh produced last year).

www.iberdrolarenovables.es