In the Aldeavieja wind farm, located in the municipalities of Avila de Santa María del Cubillo and Ojos Albos, Endesa, through its renewable energy subsidiary, Enel Green Power España, is carrying out the replacement works of the 22 wind turbines of the central for four of the latest generation. This is the largest repowering of a wind farm in Spain.
“Repowering a wind farm involves replacing existing wind turbines with more advanced and efficient ones,” explains Miguel Ángel Juárez Fernández, construction director of the Aldeavieja wind power plant. Among its benefits are increased energy production, improved efficiency and reduced visual and environmental impact.
In Aldeavieja, annual production will double, from 32.5 GWh to 64.1 GWh, the equivalent of the consumption of 36,000 homes for one year. “In terms of power, the current fleet has 14.52 MW and will become 24 MW, which means there will be an additional installed capacity in the network of 9.48 MW.”
Repowering is carried out when the infrastructure in service begins to reach the end of its useful life. This is the case of the Aldeavieja wind turbines, in operation since 2000.
After dismantling, they will have a second life. “Some will be used as spare parts for existing fleets and others will be sold to third parties. Parts that cannot be reused are recycled to avoid generating further environmental impact,” explains Juárez.
In their place, four new V150 model wind turbines will arrive with a power of 6 MW each, compared to 660 KW of the previous ones. Measuring 119 meters high to the hub and with 73 meter long blades, they were manufactured entirely in the European Union, thus preserving employment within the Eurozone. The blades, in particular, come entirely from Daimiel (Ciudad Real).
In addition, local labor is also used for the works carried out in Aldeavieja. “In the phase of convergence of the greatest number of activities, a maximum volume of 80 workers is expected, of which it is estimated that 30% will be local hires,” specifies Juárez.
Subsequently, Endesa, in collaboration with the municipalities of Santa María del Cubillo and Ojos Albos, will offer training courses in the operation and maintenance of renewable parks. “The objective is to train local staff in the operation of this type of installation, once the construction phase is completed. »
For that, we will have to wait another year. The Aldeavieja wind farm is expected to begin its testing phase in October 2025 and will be fully operational by the end of this month.
This project involves an investment of 34.1 million euros and received aid of 6.51 million euros, granted by the Institute for Diversification and Energy Savings as part of the Recovery Plan, from transformation and resilience funded by the European Union.
With this project, Endesa, through Enel Green Power Spain, continues its repowering program which has set itself the objective of repowering five additional wind farms with a total power of 80 MW and a horizon of 2026-2027, contributing to the transition energy and reducing the carbon footprint.
