VIP’s visit Honduran wind project

On 17 August 2011, the 102MW Cerro de Hula wind project in Honduras received the President of Honduras, Porfirio Lobo and Julie Chappell OBE, British Ambassador to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

The VIPs visited the construction site and had the opportunity of meeting many of the construction team.  The project is in its final stages of construction with all 51 turbine foundations being completed and  22 of the turbines being fully assembled. Underground and overhead transmission lines will be ready by mid-September and the main Cerro de Hula Substation should be energized by the end of September. Testing is scheduled to commence in early October during which time the national grid will receive the first ever wind generated electricity.

Cerro de Hula is the first wind plant in Honduras and the largest wind plant in the Central American region. The wind plant will consist of 51 x 2 MW Gamesa G87 wind turbines and will supply the national utility company, Empresa Nacional de Energía Eléctrica under a 100 MW, 20-year power purchase agreement.

The facility is being constructed by the Gamesa Wind US LLC and Iberdrola Ingeniería y Construcción Mexico consortium. Commercial operation is scheduled for December 2011 with all aspects of the project being completed during the first quarter of 2012. Located 24 km south of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in the municipalities of Santa Ana and San Buenaventura, the greater project area is spread over approximately 6,500 hectares.