energy

Windmill farms tested in mountains

Santa Fe Energy, S.A. and Enrilews have bested skeptics and invested millions to introduce wind energy to Panama

Yoichi Okuyama/BLOOMBERG NEWS

wind power: Two companies hope mountain winds can generate power for thousands. 1024030

High in the mountainous regions of Veraguas, Coclé and La Chorrera, winds turn the blades of energy-generating windmills reaching 50 and 100 meters tall. The white giants are part of a pilot program that seeks to popularize wind power generation in Panama.

The test windmills are on loan from Santa Fe Energy, S.A. and Enrilews, the two companies that have previously organized studies on the country´s wind energy potential.

The project has progressed despite skepticism about the wind´s reliability as an energy source and the complaints of residents who feel the windmills mar the natural landscape.

Santa Fe Energy, a corporation with investors in Panama and the United States, obtained a land concession for their experiment near the peaks of the Cerros Tute, Delgadito and Cabeza de Toro, which stand between 1,000 and 1,400 meters above sea level, occupying an area of about 20 square kilometers. The company has invested $133 million in the program.

The site was chosen after being identified in a study having "perhaps the strongest winds in all of Panama," said Roberto Moreno, president of Santa Fe Energy. "That site has a wind force 12 meters per second, one of the highest in the world," he added. According to an estimate by company consultants, the site should have a energy capacity exceeding 115 megawatts, enough energy to supply 300,000 people.

Santa Fe Energy´s partner in the project, Enrilews, is a Spanish investment company that has been conducting wind measurement studies at an altitude of 100 meters in Toabré, in the province of Coclé, and in La Chorrera. They estimate windmill farms in the area could generate up to 400 megawatts of energy.

"We´ve taken the measurements in real time via the Internet," said Jose Luis Iglesias, president of Enrilews.

The Autoridad Nacional de los Servicios Públicos (Asep) has granted Enrilews permission to generate up to three thousand megawatts, from a designated eight points across the country. One of those windmill farms had been planned for El Harino, in However, after wind studies in the area and a comparison of potential profits, Enrilews has since scrapped that particular location.

Nonetheless, Iglesias is convinced that the other seven points identified as consistent sources of wind energy will keep the windmills productive year round.

Should those wind farms fall through, Enrilews also has approvals to conduct studies in Boquete, Vulcán, Veraguas and Colón.