Ecuador scouting wind farm sites

The government plan of Ecuador's President Lenín Moreno, who took office in May, calls for development of renewable energy, in particular wind.

The country's estimated gross potential from the NCRE is 1,670MW with short term feasible potential of 884MW (see table below), according to the power and renewable energy ministry's wind atlas.

The contribution of wind power to Ecuador's generation park, however, is minimal.

The nation's current installed wind capacity comes from plants Villonaco (16.5MW, pictured), the country's first wind farm that entered service in 2013, and El Tropezón (2.40MW) and Baltra (2.25MW), both on the Galápagos islands.

Wind projects in the pipeline include Minas de Huascachaca (50MW), Villonaco II (50MW), El Aromo (65MW) and Salinas II (15-40MW). Expansions are also envisioned for the Galápagos wind parks.

To advance on the development front, field work is planned to further evaluate the wind potential of different sites.

BNamericas has learned that units of state power holding group Celec look to determine the wind potential along Ecuador's coast.

Company Hidronación plans to install a meteorological tower in Posorja, Guayas province, and sister generator Termopichincha a similar tower in Aromo, Manabí province.

Posorja measurement studies are estimated to take 150 days and 90 days for Aromo.