Wind News

Wednesday 24 February 2010

FCCE operates 14 wind farms in Spain with 422MW of installed capacity

Around 80MW of wind capacity is set to be installed at landfill sites across the UK, under plans announced today (February 24) by Spanish company Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC).

The turbines are to be built on suitable sites identified from more than 100 landfill sites in England, Scotland and Wales owned by FCC's waste and resource management subsidiary, Waste Recycling Group (WRG).

FCC intends to invest £100 million in building wind energy developments to aid its diversification into the renewables sector and capitalise on what is saw as the UK's "anticipated energy gap" as nuclear and coal plants come offline.

The company does have experience in the renewables sector - it already owns and manages 533MW of green capacity in Spain and the UK, mostly in the form of energy from waste and wind.

WRG operates a string of energy from waste facilities in the UK, including the Allington plant in Kent, which exports electricity to the grid, and the Eastcroft plant, which supplies thermal energy as steam to homes and buildings in Nottingham.

And in Spain, FCC Energy (FCCE), the company's energy arm, currently operates 14 wind farms with 422MW of installed capacity, as well as two 10MW photovoltaic plants and a waste to power plant in Bilbao. FCCE is also building two concentrated solar power projects, which use mirrors to focus sunlight onto water, producing steam to turn turbines.

At the moment, FCCE and WRG are reviewing potentially suitable UK sites and conducting a technical and environmental assessment to ensure that the final selected sites are the most appropriate for wind energy.

FCC said it anticipated submitting planning applications for the first projects later this year.

Paul Taylor, WRG's chief executive, said the companies' expertise meant that wind was a sensible move and today's announcement was just the start of its wind activities.

"Given the already extensive experience WRG has in recovering renewable energy from a range of waste treatment technologies, and the experience FCCE has in the operation of wind assets, this latest venture is the next logical step for the Group.

"We will also seek other opportunities to develop our wind energy activities beyond the programme we are announcing today."

Alejandro Seco, FCC Energy's strategy and development director confirmed that sustainable energy was a "strategic priority" for FCC.

"This new UK venture is a significant first step towards achieving FCC Energy's goals. Greenfield developments in FCC's existing assets, within jurisdictions such as the UK that actively support renewable energy development, constitute an opportunity that FCC Energy is keenly pursuing."