Wind energy Vestas receives 40 MW wind turbines order in Nicaragua

The contract comprises supply and commissioning of the wind turbines, a VestasOnline® Business SCADA system as well as a 5-year service and maintenance AOM 4000 agreement. The AOM 4000 is a full-scope service contract, consisting of scheduled and unscheduled maintenance and consumables, which offers solid risk management for customers who want an availability guarantee measured against an agreed threshold. This type of contract offers customers assured performance avoiding unforeseen operational costs of any kind.

The order has been placed by Blue Power & Energy S.A (BPE) – a company specialized in the development of wind power projects. Delivery of the first turbines is expected to start in 2011 and the project is expected to be commercially operational during the first half of 2012.

Joaquin Cuadra L, Blue Power & Energy CEO, declares: “Having a supplier as reliable as Vestas has made it easier for us to obtain financial closure. Vestas brought reliability and confidence not only to the banks, but also to the developers. We are very pleased to have Vestas as our wind turbine supplier.”

Marcelo Tokman Ramos, Vice President of Vestas South America, expresses: “We are extremely proud of this order, which will be the very first Vestas wind power plant in Nicaragua. We look forward to supporting the development of wind power in the country and building a fruitful and long-term relationship with BPE.” And he adds: “The fact that they have chosen Vestas as supplier for their first wind power plant reflects their trust in our proven technology, our global experience and our local capabilities. Hopefully, this project will lay the grounds for a future cooperation on other projects in the region.”

“With this new project we are taking a first big step in Nicaragua. Our positioning in Central America and in Latin America, in general, is clearly reinforced with this order. It directly supports Vestas’ strategy of entering new markets to promote the development of wind power, so that it becomes a source on a par with other energy sources,” says Juan Araluce, President of Vestas Mediterranean.

The wind power plants of this order will produce approx 150 GWh per year, which corresponds to an annual emission saving of approx 29,400 tons of CO2 compared with average Nicaraguan electricity.

Vestas in Latin America

Vestas has been operating in Latin America for almost two decades. As of 31 December 2010, Vestas had delivered a cumulative capacity to Latin American markets of 592 MW for projects in Argentina, Aruba, Brazil, Cape Verde, Caribbean Islands, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay. Since 1 January 2011 until present date, Vestas has signed firm orders in Latin America for 472 MW of new capacity. Altogether, this represents a total capacity allocation to Latin America of more than 1,000 MW.

Today, Vestas has three differentiated hubs in the region:
– Vestas Brazil with headquarters in São Paulo, Brazil.
– Vestas Mexico & the Caribbean with headquarters in Mexico City, Mexico.
– Vestas South America (excl. Brazil) with offices in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Santiago, Chile.

Vestas is developing a strong network of local suppliers which can deliver local components, products, spare parts and services for all operations of Vestas’ wind turbines in Latin America.

www.vestas.com