Ecuador receives 14 wind turbines for its largest wind farm in the Andes

Quito, Jan 24 (EFE) - The Government of Ecuador announced Monday the arrival of fourteen wind turbines that will be part of the Minas de Huascachaca wind farm, the largest in the country and will have a capacity of 50 megawatts of power. The Ministry of Energy indicated that the wind turbines arrived from China to Puerto Bolivar, in the southwest of Ecuador, where a ceremony was held to receive the turbines that will be part of the wind project, which is currently 80 percent complete. The Minas de Huascachaca wind farm is located in the north of the Andean province of Loja, the southernmost of the country's Andean jurisdictions and bordering Peru. This project is being built in the San Sebastián de Yuluc area, on the plateau (1,400 meters above sea level) of the Saraguro canton or municipality, where the indigenous people of the same name live. The wind farm is being built with a US$90 million investment financed with resources from the Banco del Estado and the public company Elecaustro, which is part of the Ministry of Energy. Ecuadorian authorities estimate that the wind farm will start operating in the first half of this year and estimate that the project will prevent the emission of 76,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. It is also expected that the park's production will reach 130 gigawatt hours of clean and renewable energy, which will enter the National Interconnected System, which concentrates and distributes the national energy production. The Ministry explained that each generator has a power of 3.571 megawatts and weighs 600 tons, with propellers that will take advantage of the wind power in the area to generate electricity. In addition, the source said that the project has generated about 425 direct and indirect jobs. The manager of the operating company Elecaustro, Antonio Borrero, commented that the Huascachaca wind project represents "winds of change" for the country, since, in addition to providing renewable energy, it will generate development in the area of influence. At the moment, Ecuador has three wind farms: El Villonaco, also located in the province of Loja, on a hill (2,720 meters above sea level) of the same name, with 16.5 megawatts of power. In the island province of the Galapagos archipelago is the wind farm of San Cristobal Island, with three wind turbines to produce 2.4 megawatts; and Baltra Island, with three wind turbines with a power of 2.25 megawatts. EFE fa/dmt