Spanish energy company Grupo Guascor announced plans to construct a $2.4 billion wind power park in Southern Argentina that was deemed to be the largest wind farm in the world, according to a report from the Barcelona Reporter.

The proposed wind power plant will be located in Santa Cruz province and will have a generating capacity between 600 megawatts (MW) and 900 MW.

The Argentina news agency Telam cited Guascor President Joseba Grajales in its report, saying that the facility will be twice the size of the largest plant currently operating in Europe. According to Grajales, the project is expected to be completed in around three years and will boost the percentage of power generated by the windmills to five percent of Argentina’s energy matrix. The country has approximately 29 MW of wind energy capacity, which is the equivalent to about one percent of the grid.

A Planning Ministry official said that the wind power plant will initially produce 300 MW by the end of next year, and will be fully operational by the end of 2011.

The official said that private Spanish funds will be used to finance 100% of the investment. Grajales added that the funding will come from local and international investors, including 30% from the company itself. The power generated from the wind power plant will be sold to the local industry, he said.

Grupo Guascor was founded in 1966 as a manufacturer of diesel engines. Since then, the company has entered into the renewable energy industry, focusing on the solar, wind, and hydropower industries, and bio-energy equipment and applications. Its headquarters is located in Alava, Spain.


-  Natassia Y. Laforteza

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Sources:

¹ http://www.barcelonareporter.com/index.php?/news/comments/worlds_largest_wind_farm...
² http://www.guascor.com/guascor_eng/grupo.php