Mexican Wind Projects Gain Momentum

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wind bigWith a large industrial wind farm just completed and many more projects on the way, Mexico is taking fast to the prospect for generating wind from electricity.

In late November, Cemex, a major Mexican industrial company that makes cement, completed a 167-turbine wind farm. The EURUS wind farm, which generates 250 megawatts, is said to be enough to supply up to a quarter of Cemex's cement plant power needs, according to a press release.

The EURUS wind farm in Oaxaca, Mexico, should help Cemex cut its CO2 emissions by about 600,000 metric tons annually.

Luis Farías, Vice-president of Energy and Climate Change at Cemex called it the "largest wind power generation project in Latin America." The wind farm generates enough electricity to supply the equivalent of a 500,000-person city, according to Cemex.

Other wind projects getting underway in Mexico will add more than a gigawatt of renewable energy.

Enel is working with Enerthi Mexico to develop a variety of new wind power projects of 60 megawatts to 200 megawatts each in Baja California, Zacatecas and Oaxaca, according to Reve.

Enel manages about 4.5 GW worth of renewable energy projects at over 500 plants around the world.

In the U.S., Enel is working with Geronimo Wind Energy on a 4 GW wind pipeline in the upper Midwest, according to a press release.

The transmission line is geared toward moving electricity from wind projects in sparsely populated areas to cities and industrial areas.

Environment + Energy Leader