Uruguay sells cheap excess wind output to large consumers

More than 30 large energy consumers in Uruguay have so far participated in a pilot program in which state electric utility UTE sells excess output from wind farms during certain hours of the day.

Under the two-month-old program, large-scale consumers purchase wind power at a 60% discount, a government statement said.

UTE will analyze the results of the pilot at the end of January, said company president Gonzalo Casaravilla. If the program is shown to produce significant savings for large consumers, UTE may apply it to other categories of end users, he added.

The pilot program only applies to incremental consumption, meaning that an end user can only obtain the discounted rate for consumption that exceeds the user's historical average offtake during that time period.

Uruguayan authorities have also cited the economic benefits of exporting excess wind output to neighbors Argentina and Brazil.

The pilot program announcement follows news that Uruguay expects to bring 350MW of additional wind capacity on stream within the next year.