Econergy International, a multinational renewable energy producer based in Boulder, Colorado, has secured $9.2 million in working capital, along with short- and medium-term financing of up to $89.3 million, for the construction of a fifty-five turbine wind farm in Guanacaste.
Known as the Proyecto Eólico Guanacaste (PEG), the project is located in Guayabo de Bagaces. Originally slated to be commissioned in December 2009, the project has offered to open at 50% capacity beginning in December of this year in order to help the national power company (Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad – ICE) offset the seasonal power shortages that Costa Rica, heavily reliant on hydroelectric power, sometimes experiences due to low water levels during the dry season.
In May 2006, Econergy and its partners submitted a bid to supply the ICE with 49.5 MW of wind energy, signing a 20-year power purchase agreement with ICE in December 2007. The PEG’s fifty-five 900kW turbines will be supplied by Enercon GmbH, the third largest manufacturer of wind turbines worldwide, based in Aurich, Germany.
Econergy owns a 45.9% interest in the project, and is currently negotiating for an additional 6%, which would give the company a controlling interest. The 45-meter turbines are expected to generate nearly a quarter million MWh per year, achieving a capacity factor some 55%; well above the 35% capacity factor of a typical wind farm.
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