Energía Global International Ltd. (EGI), a
Bermuda-based developer of electric generation
projects in Central America, announced in
August, 1999 in conjunction with International
Wind Corporation (IWC) and Aerogeneración
de Centro América S.A. (AEROCASA), a Costa Rican
wind energy company, that it had begun
commercial operation of Tierras Morenas, a 20 MW
wind farm in Costa Rica.
Tierras Morenas is located in Tilarán, in the
Province of Guanacaste. The facility sells its
electricity to the Instituto Costarricense de
Electricidad (ICE), Costa Rica’s state-owned
utility, under the terms of Costa Rican Law
7200. The project is situated near Lake Arenal
in Costa Rica, site of one of the finest wind
resources in the Western Hemisphere. Energía
Global led the development and financing of the
project, managed the execution of the
Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC)
contract by NEG-Micon A/S, the manufacturer of
the wind turbine equipment, and manages the
plant’s operations.
Energía Global develops, finances,
owns and operates energy generation and electric
distribution facilities in Central America. In
addition to Tierras Morenas, Energía Global owns
majority shares in the 16 MW Don Pedro and the
18 MW Río Volcán hydroelectric projects in Costa
Rica. EGI is also developing hydroelectric,
biomass and thermal facilities in Guatemala,
Nicaragua, and El Salvador, and owns an interest
in CLESA, one of four electric distribution
companies in El Salvador.
EGI’s major shareholder is
Enel Green Power S.p.A. of Italy.
Tierras Morenas came in on-schedule, entered
commercial operations smoothly, and has so far
been a very successful project.
Because this generation displaces electricity
that would have otherwise been generated by
existing thermal plants, it reduces greenhouse
gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion.
The project consists of 32 NEG-Micon
NM 750/44 kW wind turbines each with 44 meter
rotors and 40 meter towers. The project feeds
energy to the Costa Rican utility, ICE through
the main switch house and an 11 mile long
overhead feeder line constructed over difficult
terrain. The $35 million project was financed
with a combination of equity and $24.3 million
of loans and grant support provided by DANIDA, a
development agency of the Danish Government;
CABEI, the Central American Bank for Economic
Integration; and a consortium of five Costa
Rican banks. The local bank consortium was led
by Banco Interfin, S.A., which administers the
loans for the project.
