Capital Energy buys Siemens Gamesa wind turbines for La Herrada, its first wind farm in Castilla-La Mancha

With 51 MW of access capacity, the renewable energy facility will be located in Montealegre del Castillo (Albacete)

• The 10 turbines, model SG 5.0-145 with a unit capacity of 5.2 MW, will supply clean energy to 56,000 households and prevent emission of 55,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year.
• Building La Herrada will involve investing €53 million and create 170-plus jobs in peak construction periods and stable employment in operating and maintenance phase for seven locals.
• Facility to make lifetime contribution to GDP of nearly €1.4 million per year and annual tax contribution to local coffers of more than €150,000.

 Albacete​, 14 December 2023.- Capital Energy, a Spanish energy company founded two decades ago and which aims to become the first vertically integrated 100% renewable operator on the Iberian peninsula, has taken another step in shoring up the development of its clean energy project in Castilla-La Mancha by acquiring the turbines for its first wind farm in the region: La Herrada.

The company has just closed the sale of 10 wind turbines for this renewable energy facility, model SG 5.0-145 with 5.2 megawatts (MW) of unit power. The turbines, bought from Siemens Gamesa and set to be delivered within a year, have a diameter of 145 metres and a hub height of 91 metres.

The new contract between Capital Energy and Siemens Gamesa will make a big positive impact on Spanish industry, since a good part of the turbines will be built in the supplier’s factories across Spain: the 10 nacelles will be assembled at the plant in Ágreda (Soria), the multipliers produced at the facilities in Asteasu (Guipúzcoa), Lerma (Burgos) and Burgos city, and the electrical components manufactured at the factories in Reinosa (Cantabria), San Fernando de Henares (Madrid) and Benisanó (Valencia).

Capital Energy and Siemens Gamesa have also signed a comprehensive 20-year aftersales service agreement for monitoring and preventive and corrective maintenance, able to be extended for another five years.

“We are proud to seal such an important deal with one of the major wind turbine suppliers in the world,” said Capital Energy chief executive Juan José Sánchez. “This new agreement with Siemens Gamesa, which I am sure is just the start of many more to come, represents a new milestone in delivering on the business plan we are leveraging to promote a green and fair energy transition.”

“This second contract with Capital Energy reinforces the special relationship we have with one of the most active and fastest-growing players in the wind power sector in Spain. We are delighted to work with them to do our bit for the energy transition in Spain, a market with very ambitious decarbonisation targets that we are the leaders of with a share of more than 50%,” said Paulo Soares, chief executive of Siemens Gamesa for Southern Europe and Latin America.

The Capital Energy renewable energy plant in Castilla-La Mancha will have 51 MW in access capacity and its construction, which started in February 2023, will entail an investment of around €53 million.

Located in the Albacete town of Montealegre del Castillo, it will be able to generate 149,000 megawatt hours (MWh) per year, enough to supply around 56,000 Castilian households with clean electricity. It will also prevent the emission of some 55,000 tonnes of CO₂ a year.

The construction of this Capital Energy renewable facility will create over 170 direct jobs during peak periods. In the operating and maintenance phase it will provide stable, quality employment for seven local workers and contribute to the creation of some six indirect jobs.

La Herrada will make a lifetime contribution to GDP of nearly €1.4 million per year and an annual tax contribution to the local coffers of more than €150,000. A one-off payment of the ICIO tax on building, installations and other works possibly in excess of €1 million will be added to this recurring amount.

Solid support for Castilla-La Mancha

Castilla-La Mancha is important to the growth of Capital Energy’s ambitious clean energy project. The group is developing 865 MW in both wind (288 MW) and photovoltaic (577 MW) energy in this region which boasts high-quality renewable resources.

Building this portfolio of 11 projects - five wind and six solar plants - would mobilise a total investment of over €600 million and involve the creation of some 2,215 direct jobs, make a tax contribution of more than €12 million and add approximately €165 million to GDP.

During the operating and maintenance of the facilities, the company would provide permanent, quality employment to around 75 professionals from Castilla-La Mancha and generate an annual economic impact of over €2.6 million through local and regional taxes. It would also contribute some €20 million to GDP each year.

The implementation of all this renewable capacity would deliver unquestionable environmental value to Castilla-La Mancha. Capital Energy would be able to produce nearly 2,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) of clean electricity per year, equivalent to the consumption of more than 770,000 households, and prevent emission into the atmosphere of over 730,000 tonnes of CO₂.

The locations of these facilities in three of the five provinces of Castilla-La Mancha, i.e., Albacete, Cuenca and Guadalajara, were selected following a multi-criteria analysis of all the variables involved - environmental, technical, urban, heritage, social, etc. - and having extensively reviewed all current laws and regulations.

The figures speak to Capital Energy’s aim of becoming a driving force for social and economic development in Castilla-La Mancha. This involves balancing two goals: to contribute to the decarbonisation of the economy through the implementation of renewable energies, and to promote economic and social growth in the region.

In line with this vision, the company has created the Territories Project, a groundbreaking initiative combining its commitment to the transformation of the energy model with its desire to boost the development of the areas where it operates. The project is already impacting the municipalities involved in the rollout of facilities across the region. To this end, during the plant construction and operating phases, the company undertakes to implement agreed actions with local stakeholders involving specific lines of action such as improving infrastructures and services, connectivity and digitisation; protecting artistic and cultural heritage, education and health; and the social and labour integration of disadvantaged groups.

Capital Energy has an office in Albacete employing 20 people from Castilla-La Mancha, from where it addresses the growth of its clean energy project in the region. It is also committed to developing new storage technologies and green hydrogen.