ACCIONA Energía has won a tender called by the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) for the purchase of electricity from a 50 MW wind park in Costa Rica. ACCIONA will design, construct and operate the Chiripa wind park (capacity 49.5 MW) following an investment of 125 million US dollars (90 million euros at the current exchange rate). The award enables the Company to incorporate another country into its renewable energy program worldwide.
The wind park is planned for the municipality of Tilarán (Guanacaste province) in north-western Costa Rica, and will consist of thirty-three 1.5 MW wind turbines using ACCIONA Windpower technology.
The award involves the signature of a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement and the materialization of the wind park through the BOT (build, operate and transfer) formula.
ACCIONA expects to start construction work on the wind park at the end of 2012 and put it into service in around one year, i.e. towards the end of 2013. Once grid connected, the Chiripa wind park -located on a site with a strong wind resource- will produce over 200 million kilowatt-hours in an average year.