Endesa has begun repowering the Coriscada wind farm, located in the municipalities of Mañón and Ortigueira, in the province of La Coruña. The project, which involves replacing the forty existing wind turbines with just four, represents an investment of €36.3 million and will increase the facility’s output to 83.9 gigawatt-hours per year, an increase of 78.5%.

According to the plans announced by the electricity company owned by Italy’s Enel group, the works will be completed during 2027, allowing the testing phase to begin at the end of the year and full operation to commence in March 2028. Another objective of the project is to reuse some of the decommissioned wind turbines as spare parts at other Endesa wind farms and sell the remainder to third parties, to ensure their reuse and avoid generating waste. Components that cannot be reused will be fully recovered.

State-of-the-art wind turbines
The company responsible for the works is SPV Sistemas Energéticos Mañón Ortigueira, which is owned by Enel Green Power España (96%) and Inega (4%). In the first phase, forty wind turbines with a combined capacity of twenty-four megawatts, which have been operational since 1998, will be dismantled. They will then be replaced by four state-of-the-art turbines which, with a capacity of seven megawatts each, will provide a total of twenty-eight megawatts, although the current grid export capacity of twenty-four megawatts will be maintained.

In addition to reducing the number of wind turbines, with the resulting visual impact, this project will enable Endesa to upgrade the technology at the facility, making it more efficient and safer to operate, and almost doubling the wind farm’s annual output from the current 47 gigawatt-hours per year to 83.9 gigawatt-hours per year. In addition, the company has encouraged the technology for the new turbine to be manufactured entirely within the European Union.

NextGeneration funds
This project took part in the second call for investment grants for the repowering of wind power installations under the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, financed by the European Union through NextGeneration funds. Specifically, it has received a grant of €6.79 million, awarded by the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE).

The company has promoted the recruitment of local skilled workers and the engagement of Galician companies to carry out the various tasks, both during the construction and operation phases. It will also organise training courses in the operation and maintenance of renewable energy farms, in coordination with Mañón and Ortigueira municipal councils.

^{Photo: Endesa}