- First quarter 2022: The wind farm will require an investment of more than €45M and will start operations early next year
- Circular economy: The facility will include a pilot project for the reuse of biomass ashes
ACCIONA has started construction works on the Celada Fusión wind farm (48MW) in the Valles del Cerrato region, in Palencia (Spain). The project will require an investment of more than €45M and will commence operations in the first quarter of 2022.
The wind farm includes 10 Nordex 149 wind turbines that will be installed atop 125-meter-high steel towers. The turbines, among the most powerful units developed for onshore wind power, are the first of this series to be installed in Spain and were manufactured at the Nordex plant in Vall d'Uixó (Valencia, Spain).
The Celada Fusión project is located in the Spanish municipalities of Baltanás, Herrera de Valdecañas and Hornillos del Cerrato (Palencia). This new facility is within close proximity to the Celada I and V wind farms (34MW and 26MW, respectively) which ACCIONA also operates in the region. Given this proximity to the other wind farms, ACCIONA is able to use most of the access and interconnection infrastructure that were developed previously in the area.
Annual production at Celada Fusión is estimated at 136,000MWh per year of clean electricity, which will contribute to the decarbonization of the Spanish electricity mix and will avoid the emission of 60,000 tons of CO2 per year. The wind farm will offset the energy used for its construction (including the manufacture of all equipment, extraction of raw materials, etc.) in less than nine months.
Parallel to the construction works of the wind farm, ACCIONA will implement environmental and social improvement initiatives, as it does with all its renewable projects.
As part of its social impact management, the company is conducting social studies to determine the upcoming measures it will launch to help spur development in the wind farm’s surrounding communities.
ENVIRONMENTAL MEASURES
ACCIONA has adjusted the precise location of the farm’s wind turbines in order to protect the wildlife and ecosystem around the facility, as well as to preserve the area’s cultural and archaeological heritage, while reducing any visual impact to the landscape. The project contemplates environmental measures aimed mainly at reforestation and initiatives to encourage nesting and reproduction of fauna species.
Celada Fusión is participating in one of ACCIONA Energy’s sustainability innovation projects. The construction of the accesses leading to the facility will be executed by a pilot project that will substitute quarry materials with ashes from ACCIONA's biomass plant in Briviesca. The reuse of biomass ashes allows the company to recycle its waste, promote circular economy and reduce CO2 emissions generated from the construction process. The waste reuse rate registered for ACCIONA's Energy division exceeds 93% worldwide and stands at 96.5% in its operations in Spain.