The construction of Peñoles’ 199.5 MW wind farm in Mexico’s northern state of Coahuila is in full gear, with plans to have the project operational by the end of 2016.
The wind farm is being developed by EDPR Renewables, which is headquartered in Madrid, Spain.
Below is RCG’s video, showing the progress of the wind farm’s construction near the municipalities of General Cepeda and Ramos Arizpe in Coahuila.
Once completed, the US$350 million project will generate about 200 megawatts of green energy for the mining company’s zinc plant, located in nearby Torreon. This will be the first wind farm in Coahuila.
As construction forges ahead, the wind farm is creating a lot of local buzz. Mayor of General Cepeda, Rodolfo Zamora Rodríguez, spoke very positively about the project, telling local media that it will create over 300 new job opportunities during the construction stage.
So far, the project is 35% completed, according to evwind.com. The wind farm will consist of 95 wind turbines, which will involve building over 50 km of access roads.
Peñoles is the world leader in silver production and is the second largest mining company in Mexico.
The company’s Coahuila wind farm project has been shortlisted in the Energy and Mines Renewables in Mining Awards for ‘Best use of wind by a mining company (>100MW)’, which is based on the recently released global rankings.