The Basque Government and Iberdrola España will invest €59M in the Basque Country's first wind farm in 20 years with Siemens Gamesa as supplier

Aixeindar, the company created by Iberdrola España and the Basque Government's Ente Vasco de la Energía to promote new renewable energy projects in the Basque Country, is making progress on the construction of the Labraza wind farm located in the municipality of Oion in the province of Alava. This will be the first wind farm to be commissioned in the Basque Country since 2006, and it is happening through a public–private initiative, with an investment of €59M, in an operation that will drive the supply chain of the Basque wind power industry, where the region is the market leader.

The Basque Government and Iberdrola España have chosen Siemens Gamesa, based in the Bizkaia Technology Park in Zamudio, to build the eight 5 MW SG 5.0-145 (2.0) wind turbines, each one belonging to the 4X platform. The gearboxes of this model will be manufactured at the Asteasu facilities (in Gipuzkoa) and the substation will be built by EDS Ingeniería y Montaje, located in Galdakao, Bizkaia. 

Building renewable energy farms in the Basque Country is a necessity, but at the same time it is also an opportunity for our industry. The development of wind turbines is a commitment to Basque industry that will reverberate along the entire supply chain of the Basque wind power industry. It will increase renewable generation in the region while supporting wind power, an important sector for Basque industry. The region is currently a leader in technological and industrial capabilities in wind energy.

This wind farm does not require the construction of new electrical infrastructures to connect to the grid, as it has a feeder through the substation of the already-existing wind farms in Aguilar de Codés, Navarra, significantly reducing the environmental impact.

Once in operation, it will produce 99,679 MWh annually, which will supply 30,000 homes with renewable energy, equivalent to the population of the cities of Durango or Eibar. It will also prevent the release of 16,300 tCO2 into the atmosphere, equivalent to the emissions of more than 50,000 vehicles. A total of 1.7 million trees would have to be planted to achieve the same CO₂ savings. 

The Labraza wind farm has just applied for the building permit and is moving forward with the execution of the project after having obtained all the prior authorisations during the industry paperwork: the Environmental Impact Statement (or DIA), the Prior Administrative Authorisation (or AAP), the Administrative Construction Authorisation (or AAC), as well as the urban planning authorisations following the approval of the Special Plan.

Once all the paperwork has been processed, work is expected to begin in the last quarter of this year, and the wind farm is expected to come into operation one year after the start of construction.

This project, with a capacity of 40 MW, will be the first wind farm to generate 100% green energy to be commissioned in the Basque Country since 2006. Located in Álava, in the Administrative Councils of Labraza and Barriobusto (in Oion), it will add to the wind power capacity currently installed in the region. Iberdrola España distributes 143 MW of the total 153 MW in the region from its four wind farms: Oiz, Elgea, Urkilla and Badaia.  

This morning, the Regional Minister for Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability, Mikel Jauregi, the CEO of Iberdrola Renovables Energía, Julio Castro, and the managing director of Siemens Energy and Siemens Gamesa in Spain, Kerman Gabiola, together with the Deputy Regional Minister for the Energy Transition, Irantzu Allende, and the general manager of Ente Vasco de la Energía, Mikel Amundarain, visited the Oiz wind farm, which was the first wind farm built in Bizkaia in 2003, jointly by the Basque Government and Iberdrola España, with Gamesa wind turbines.

Mikel Jauregi appealed to ‘the spirit that developed the Oiz wind farm, as a model of public–private collaboration that creates and strengthens the industrial fabric of the Basque Country’. On this basis, the minister underlined the importance of the new renewable project in Labraza: ‘Basque society is firmly committed to renewable energies, as is this government. For the first time in 20 years, the Basque Country will have a new wind farm that will generate green energy for our homes and industries. And we are going to do it through a public–private initiative, relying on the value chain of our wind power industry, where we are a benchmark in Europe’. ‘We also want,’ stressed Jauregi, ‘a social model that directly benefits, first and foremost, the residents of the cities and towns where the renewable projects are built, the local councils and administrations, and the companies in the surrounding areas. That way we contribute to protecting the environment, decarbonisation, our industry’s development, and improving society, towns and local businesses’.

Julio Castro, CEO of Iberdrola Renovables Energía, said ‘Iberdrola España has all the investment capacity, experience and technology to promote renewable projects wherever it goes. That it is doing so, after twenty years, in its home region fills us with pride. And we’re proud not only because it’s positive for Basque citizens, but also because we’re accompanied by Basque institutions and the industry we have here. The Basque Country has the potential to produce the entire industrial wind supply chain and yet it hasn’t built a new wind farm for 20 years, which is also Iberdrola España’s. We can’t be left behind. Iberdrola España has the strength, as the name of the company together with EVE, Aixeindar (wind power in Basque), indicates, to carry out, with complete security and its proven track record, projects that will make the Basque Country a leader in the decarbonisation of our industry through renewable energy combined with electrification. We cannot miss this opportunity. There’s a lot at stake’.

Kerman Gabiola, managing director of Siemens Energy and Siemens Gamesa in Spain, said that ‘the Labraza wind farm is a very important project for the Basque Country. We’re proud to be able to do it with our partner Iberdrola España, and with the Ente Vasco de la Energía and the Basque Government. The local value add is very high. This is the first wind farm to be built in the Basque Country in the last two decades, which is an important step towards reactivating wind energy in the region’.