Cabo Negro Wind Farm, 3 MW

The company Methanex, with the idea of minimizing the use of gas in electricity generation and using it as a raw material in the manufacture of methanol, proposed to develop a wind project in the Cabo Negro sector, in the province of Magallanes. 

In 2008, PA Engineering was invited to participate in the development of the civil detail engineering, with the aim of designing the foundations required to support the 3 wind turbines that the wind farm will have. Then, the client requested the electrical detail engineering for the construction of the medium voltage line that connects the wind generators with the plant.

With the groundbreaking ceremony on December 11, 2009, this Bicentennial project began, which was inaugurated in October 2010 and involved a direct investment of US$ 5.3 million.

The wind farm included the construction of three wind turbines with a combined capacity of 2.55 MW, which supplied electricity to the Methanex facilities, from wind, and thus reduce CO2 emissions by 12,129 tonnes.

This project made it possible to take full advantage of a renewable energy source that was available in the region, thus becoming the first company in the area to use clean energy. 

As a result of the shortage of natural gas, Methanex reduced its production capacity and consequently its energy consumption. In June 2014, faced with the possibility of selling this extra energy to third parties, which is not part of its business, the Canadian company reached an agreement with Pecket Energy and transferred ownership of the wind farm, so that it would integrate the energy produced in the wind farm into the Magallanes matrix.