Panamas first wind turbines in Penonome

WIND TURBINES  at Wind Farm Penonomé will be  the first in Panama and  will be the largest in Central America with a total of 110 towers.

The installation began Monday August 5   with an official ceremony attended by President, Ricardo Martinelli.

 The project, run by the Spanish company Union Panamanian Wind (UEP) with an investment of $440 million, will begin operations in the second half of 2014 and will generate between 6% and 7% of the energy required by the market Panama, according to official information.

Martinelli said the wind farm will allow Panama to obtain "cheap and efficient energy," which, he said, will result in a reduction of the cost of the basic basket.

 "With this wind farm Penonomé going to rely less on fossil fuels and hydroelectric power," said Rafael Perez Pire, , director of Union Wind Panama

The executive said the wind farm will be ready by mid-2014, with a rate of installation of "2-3 turbines per week" It was expected that  88 will be mounted by year end.

95% of the nearly 500 people working in the assembly of the towers, 90 meters (120 meters with the blades of the windmills) Penonemé ?? are locals. 

The park stands on an area of ??19,000 hectares and will provide about 220 megawatts of power, double the generating similar facilities in Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Honduras, has said the company behind the project.

 Generate power throughout the year, although 75% of it will be between December and May when the dry season is registered in Panama.

 The representative of the Department of Mineral Resources, Ministry of Commerce and Industry of Panama, Jose Felix Herrera, described Monday as "excellent" the creation of the park, as it helps to release the exploitation of other resources.

 According to Panama Wind the introduction of wind power will avoid the emission of approximately 450,000 tons of carbon to the atmosphere and mitigate the emission of 1,000 tons of nitrogen oxide and 500 tons of sulfur dioxide.

 Panama has an installed power generation capacity of 1,426 megawatts, of which more than half comes from hydro and other thermal plants, according to official data.

 The Union Wind Panamasubsidiary of the Spanish Wind Energy Union (EEU), won the contract in late 2011, when it presented an offer of $0.9 per kilowatt hour for the long-term supply of wind power in Panama.