- Just a few days ago, the structure of the six new wind turbines belonging to Enel Green Power, Endesa's renewables subsidiary, was fully installed and now it is time to address the installation phase for the interior wiring.
- The staff of Endesa and Enercon were also obliged to work at night, on holidays and at weekends to take advantage of the truce offered by the strong wind that almost always reigns in the area.
- The project, jointly promoted by Endesa and Agüimes Town Council, will be fully operational in July of this year and consists of the replacement of six 660 kW wind turbines with 900 KW turbines that are technologically more advanced, more efficient and smaller in size.
- The investment of €10 million will make the Arinaga wind farm the most modern in the Canary Islands and is being taken as a benchmark by Enel from Italy.
One by one the new wind turbines installed in the Arinaga wind farm were becoming vertical and just a few days ago the six wind structures were already pointing to the sky in the southeast. In itself, linking the different parts of a wind turbine that weighs more than 90 tons and is 67 metres high is a complex operation involving large tonnage cranes and highly qualified personnel who measure each movement to the millimetre. In this case, it was a challenge aggravated by the inconvenience of the strong winds that lash the area practically all year round.
José María Pérez, Enel's Works Coordinator for this wind repowering project, explained that it was the wind that conditioned the pace of work and that they had to adapt to the brief moments when it offered a truce. "That is why we made the most of those days when the wind subsided and for the installation of most of the wind turbines we had three work shifts, which also covered the night schedule." The working day also had to be extended to holidays and weekends. A challenge met by Endesa, employing the Engineering & Construction and Operation & Maintenance teams provided by its renewable energies subsidiary Enel Green Power España (EGPE), and Enercon, a company that supplies and installs wind turbines.
The new wind structures were transported three months ago by sea from Portugal and at the end of March had already reached their destination in the port of Arinaga, from where they were transferred on a short road trip to the installations at the wind farm. In just seven days the work team had already assembled the first wind turbine.
In the process of installing the different sections they used special cranes capable of moving up to 300 tons. The first section corresponds to lifting the shafts, two sections of 22 tons each made of steel that need to be perfectly adjusted to each other and crimped in turn to the 160 pieces on the bolt cage, the foundation prepared on the ground, and their respective screws. Next, it will be necessary to place the nacelles weighing 35 tons each and, finally, the bushings and resin blades each weighing 15 tons. Each wind turbine weighs more than 90 tons with a height of 67 metres.
This is when the project enters the interior wiring installation phase, as well as adjusting the configuration for the new wind turbines. Repowering work at the Arinaga wind farm is expected to be completed by July this year. The project will transform this renewable energy point, located in the municipality of Agüimes, into the most modern in the Canary Islands and a national benchmark because it involves comprehensive repowering work that, according to José María Pérez, "is sometimes more complex than building a new wind farm from scratch". The new wind turbines are more modern and will increase production capacity and extend the operation of the installation for at least two more decades.
The project consists of the replacement of six of the nine old wind turbines on the wind farm. They were MADE 660 kW AE46 technology turbines and will be replaced with ENERCON 900 kW E44 wind turbines which are much more modern and efficient and will require a total investment of €10 million. Already in 2012, Parque Eólica Carretera de Arinaga, a company consisting of Endesa, through Enel Green Power España, and the Agüimes Town Council, decided to undertake the first action to repower the wind farm This involved replacing wind turbines one, five and six with others of larger dimensions capable of increasing energy production.
The Arinaga wind farm occupies a total area of 40,000 square metres and its repowering will enable 5,400 KW of new installed power to be obtained.
The aim of the project is to improve the efficiency of an iconic wind farm located in the Arinaga Industrial Estate, where renewable energies and industry merge, and which was developed by Parque Eólica Carretera de Arinaga, a company in which the Town Council of Agüimes and Enel Green Power España participate. In this way, the objective of sharing the value created with local institutions is also achieved.
Replacing wind turbines with others using state-of-the-art technology not only increases the production of an important wind resource already existing in the area, but also improves the integration of the wind farm into the electricity grid, safety in operation, maintenance work and the environment.
Projects of these characteristics confirm Endesa's commitment, through Enel Green Power España, to renewable energies and the energy transition in the Canary Islands, developing new wind and photovoltaic generation projects, as well as renewing the existing fleet by repowering this and other wind farms.
Last year, Endesa's renewable division, Enel Green Power España, connected 626.65 MW of new renewable capacity to the electricity grid in Spain from 12 solar installations (499.5 MW), one wind (123.4 MW) and two hydroelectric (3.6 MW). Thanks to this new capacity, Endesa currently manages, through EGPE, more than 8,390 MW of renewable capacity installed in Spain, including: 4,746 MW in hydroelectric power plants; 2,546 MW in wind farms, and 1,098 MW in solar plants.
About Endesa
Endesa is a leading electricity company in Spain and the second largest in Portugal. The company is also the second largest gas operator in the Spanish market. Endesa operates an end-to-end electricity generation, distribution and marketing business. Through Endesa X, it also offers value-added services aimed at the electrification of energy usage in homes, companies, industries and Public Administrations. It is also the leading operator of charging stations in Spain through Endesa X Way, a business line dedicated entirely to electric mobility. Endesa is firmly committed to the United Nations SDGs and strongly supports the development of renewable energies through Enel Green Power España, the digitalisation of grids through e-distribución, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The Endesa Foundation is also active in CSR. Our workforce numbers about 9,260 employees. Endesa is a division of Enel, the largest electricity group in Europe.