New 24 MW project going up

A new 24 MW wind project, financed by Danish overseas aid agency Danida, is to be on-line in Costa Rica by July next year. Ground has been broken and the first of 32 NEG Micon 750 kW turbines are expected on site early next year, says Rob Pratt of Central American Power Services Inc, the US representative of the Bermuda-based co-owner of the project, Energia Global International Inc. The other owner of "Tierras Morenas," near Lake Arenal, is a US company, International Wind Corporation. Up to 20 MW of electricity will be sold to Costa Rica's state owned utility, Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) under a 15 year power purchase agreement. The $24.5 million financing package, completed in late August, was put together by Danida, the Central American bank for Economic Integration, or CABEI, and a consortium of five Central American banks lead by Banco Interfin SA. It will be the third wind farm built in the Central American country. Near the Tierras Morenas plant is a 6.4 MW wind project, AeroEnergia, which went on line this summer and also consists of NEG Micon turbines. Some of the investors in that project are also investing in Tierras Morenas. Costa Rica's first wind plant, completed a couple of years ago, is a 20 MW plant developed by the US wind company Kenetech Corp. It was sold when its wind division was liquidated after seeking bankruptcy protection in US courts.