La Esperanza Wind Park

The park contributes clean and renewable energy, with minimal environmental impact, and coexists with the traditional activities of the region, namely agricultural and farming activities.

FACTS

Location

Negrete, Chile

Technology

Wind

Attributes

Environmental impact, Local impact

Producing electricity since

April 2016

Developer/owner

Petroquim Chile

Estimated annual generation

30 GWh

Total capacity

9 MW

La Esperanza Wind Park, located in the Negrete commune in Chile, was constructed in 2015 near the Bio Bio river and began to generate clean energy in April 2016. La Esperanza has a total capacity of 10.5 MW, equally divided across five 100m-tall and 110m-wide wind turbines. The total annually generation is in the order of 30 GWh.

The park contributes clean and renewable energy, with minimal environmental impact, and coexists with the traditional activities of the region, namely agricultural and farming activities. In addition, the operation of La Esperanza contributes to lower electricity prices for the inhabitants of Negrete, according to the Law of Tariff Equity that favors the communes that have electricity generating plant.

The Negrete commune is situated among five rivers: the Bío Bío in the north, the Renaico in the south, the Vergara in the west, and the Bureo river and the Rapelco creek in the east. The five wind turbines are named after these five rivers: Bío Bío, Renaico, Vergara, Bureo, and Rapelco.

Wind energy and land use

La Esperanza Wind Park coexists peacefully with the local communities. Indeed, local populations can continue to exercise agricultural and farming activities on the land of the wind park – a powerful advantage specific to wind farms.

Indeed, other than generating clean and renewable energy, wind farms easily integrate into the local landscape and benefit the communities directly, not just by providing clean energy, but also by providing the opportunity to use the land for economic activities, as the wind turbines utilize only a small fraction of the land they occupy.