The Suez Energy Andino subsidiary of multinational GDF Suez and Spanish renewables company Enhol have signed an agreement for the construction of the 38MW Monte Redondo wind farm in the Ovalle municipality of Chile's region IV, Suez said in a statement.
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Both Suez and Enhol will participate in the construction of the plant, while Suez will own and operate it after the project comes online in July 2009.
The wind farm will use nineteen 2MW Vestas V90 turbines and the EIA has already been approved.
Construction is expected to begin in November and the developers also aim to register the project under the clean development mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol, according to the statement.
Besides being Suez's first wind farm in Chile, the project will also mark the company's re-entry into Chile's central SIC grid. The company has thermo generation on the country's northern SING grid and is studying other potential hydro and thermo projects for the SIC.
Suez is also developing the Barrancones thermo plant in region IV that will connect to SIC. On SING, the company is installing diesel-fired motors and owns a portion of the GNL Mejillones JV constructing an LNG regasification plant in the northern port of Mejillones.
Monte Redondo would also be Enhol's first wind farm to come online in Chile. The project will allow the Spanish firm to obtain revenues to be used for the construction of other renewable energy projects in the country, according to the statement.
Enhol has been present in Chile for three years and is developing 800MW of both wind and run-of-the-river hydro plants. The company said in July that it would invest US$1bn in the 500MW Talinay wind farm also planned for region IV.
Neither Suez nor Enhol disclosed the value of the contract, but total investment in the project could reach US$100mn, industry sources told BNamericas.
Suez spokespersons were not immediately available for further comment.
Monte Redondo was originally developed by the Chilean subsidiary of UK renewable generation company Seawind. The company sold the project, which included the approved EIA, to Enhol earlier this year.
Seawind currently has other wind projects in Chile in various stages of development.
