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Wind Turbines from GE Being Erected for New Project in NorthWestern Spain LONDON, ENGLAND (November 22, 2004) — Wind turbine erection is underway at the Bodenaya Wind Plant, an 18-megawatt wind project being built in the Spanish coastal principality of Asturias (Principado de Asturias). GE Energy was chosen to supply 12 of its 1.5-megawatt wind turbines for the project, located on approximately 500,000 square meters (124 acres) of public and private property near the town of Salas in the Bodenaya mountain range. The site is about 50 kilometers west of Asturias' capital city of Oviedo and 450 kilometers northwest of Madrid. All 12 of the wind turbines are expected to be connected to the Spanish power grid by December. Bodenaya will be the seventh wind facility to be built in Asturias, which had a total of 144 megawatts of installed capacity by the end of 2003. It will be among the first wind projects to sell energy directly to the Spanish grid, under the latest renewable energy payment mechanism established by the government. This program enables generators of renewable energy to sell their output to the national distribution company and receive an established, regulated tariff. The Bodenaya wind farm is owned by Northeolic Sierra de Bodenaya, SL, a joint partnership between ENERGIE E2, which holds a 75% interest, and Northeolic SA, holder of a 25% interest. ENERGIE E2, a leading Danish production and energy trading company, currently owns 460 megawatts of installed wind energy capacity in the Spanish territory. Northeolic SA, a Spanish renewable energy development group, has also been involved with wind energy through the promotion of the Pico Gallo wind farm, the first wind farm in Asturias, which has been in operation since 2001. The new wind farm will produce enough renewable electricity to meet the annual needs of about 11,500 Spanish households. Viesgo-ENEL, a leading utility in northwestern Spain, will distribute the electricity. Overall, Spain is the world's second largest producer of wind power. At the end of 2003 the country had 6,420 megawatts of installed wind capacity, behind only Germany's 14,612 megawatts, according to the European Wind Energy Association. The Bodenaya project's wind turbines were assembled at GE Energy's facility in Noblejas (Toledo), Spain. In addition to wind turbine supply, GE Energy is also providing tower installation and commissioning services. For the first five years, GE also will operate and maintain the Bodenaya facility in cooperation with PROCRISA Servicios SL, a subsidiary of ENERGIE E2. This work will create three jobs. To date, more than 2,500 of GE's 1.5-megawatt wind turbines have been installed worldwide, making this machine the most widely used, megawatt-class wind turbine in the world. GE Energy is one of the world's leading wind power companies. With design, manufacturing and/or assembly facilities in Germany, Spain and the United States, the company's current product portfolio includes wind turbines with rated outputs ranging from 900 to 3,600 kilowatts, and support services ranging from project development assistance to operation and maintenance. The company has developed and /or installed more than 6,900 wind turbines with a rated capacity exceeding 5,000 megawatts. GE Energy's wind operations employ more than 1,700 people worldwide. About GE Energy GE Energy (www.gepower.com) is one of the world's leading suppliers of power generation and energy delivery technology, with 2003 revenues of nearly $18.5 billion. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, GE Energy provides equipment, service and management solutions across the power generation, oil and gas, transmission and distribution, distributed power and energy rental industries. For more information, contact: GE Energy: Dennis Murphy GE Energy +1 678 844 6948 dennis.murphy@ps.ge.com Ken Darling or Beth Coffman Masto Public Relations +1 518 786 6488 kenneth.darling@ps.ge.com beth.coffman@mastopr.com > Press Contacts > More 2004 Press Releases |