Siemens Gamesa has signed one of its largest contracts in Spain in terms of capacity. It is a 150 MW agreement with Elawan Energy to supply 30 SG 5.0-145 model turbines, one of the company's most powerful onshore wind turbines, which is increasingly gaining ground in the country, and is especially suitable for sites with medium level winds.
The wind complex, formed by three wind farms in the same area – Fuente Álamo, Frontones and Derramador, with 50 MW each - is located in central Spain, in the province of Albacete, and is scheduled to be commissioned in mid-2022. The contract with Elawan also includes a long-term service agreement for a period of 20 years.
The 150 MW of clean energy that the complex will produce will provide electricity to more than 110,000 households, almost the entire province of Albacete. In addition, its size will help to avoid the emission of nearly 400,000 tonnes of CO2 a year, the equivalent to the emissions of more than 200,000 vehicles. To achieve this CO2 saving, just over six million trees would need to be planted.
"The agreement reached with Elawan to build one of our largest wind farm clusters in Spain reflects our contribution and commitment to the growth of the wind energy sector in the country, where we are market leaders, with 53% of market share. This large project will also bolster activity at our various plants in Spain and for our Spanish suppliers,” said Lars Bondo Krogsgaard, CEO of Siemens Gamesa's Onshore unit.
Siemens Gamesa currently has around 15 GW installed across Spain, representing 53% of the total installed capacity in the country, which, according to the latest available data from the Spanish Wind Energy Association (AEE), reached 27.5 GW in 2020. Wind power has become the technology with the largest installed capacity in the country for the first time.
The company will also strengthen its position in Castilla La Mancha, a region where it has been present since 1999 and where it currently has 2,292 MW installed and connected to the grid, 59% of the total installed capacity in the region. To this capacity must be added the 150 MW signed with Elawan.
The 30 nacelles will be assembled at Siemens Gamesa's plant in Ágreda (Soria), the gearboxes will be produced at the plants in Asteasu (Guipúzcoa), Lerma (Burgos) and the city of Burgos, and the electrical components will be produced at the factories in Reinosa (Cantabria), San Fernando de Henares (Madrid) and Benisanó (Valencia). Siemens Gamesa has nine plants in Spain employing 1,200 people, and 4,500 employees in total in the country.
This new project will also boost the activity of Siemens Gamesa's Spanish suppliers, which will be involved in the production of various components. In 2020, Siemens Gamesa's purchases from Spanish companies amounted to €1,253 million, 4% more than the previous year.
Spain offers one of the highest rates of expected renewable energy growth. The goal set by the government for 2030 is to achieve 42% of final energy use from renewables, compared to 20% in 2020, with the stake of renewable energy in the electricity mix rising to 74%, and to 100% by 2050. New renewable energy auctions in Spain are among the measures planned to help meet this growth in renewables with an estimated allocation of 20 GW by 2025, half of which will be in wind energy.
