Uruguay wind power expansion continues

By Pittaluga Abogados

Located at route 3 of Salto department, the Palomas wind farm is the latest one to began generating wind electricity in Uruguay, with 35 wind turbines and a power of 70 megawatts.

The park is owned by Nicefield SA, a Uruguay-Spanish company which signed an operating leacing contract for 10 years with UTE (a state-owned power company), with the option of extending to two additional periods, each of 5 years. The investment in the plant itself is of approximately USD 298 million.

With Palomas there are at the moment 44 wind farms in Uruguay, some already operational and others in installation processes. Seven of them are owned by UTE or have UTE´s participation: Palomas is the first one to be built and operated under a leasing contract through which UTE can acquire ownership of the wind farm at the end of the contract.

According to the organization Ren21, in recent years Uruguay has achieved the highest development of renewable energies in the whole world.