Displaying items by tag: Wind

Egypt: Talks between Suez Cement (SCGC) and Egyptian authorities are continuing to ensure the continued financial viability of the SCGC's Wind Farm project, according to Managing Director Bruno Carré.

The company, which is part of Italcementi Group, is currently holding discussions with the Egyptian government to reach specific terms that could help in reaching a solution. This would then help the company present the project to banks, which would provide financing for the project.

According to Carré, negotiations have been ongoing with the government since an Economic Summit that was held in March 2014 in Sharm El-Sheikh. "It's a complex issue and it's not moving as rapidly as we wanted," Carré said. He emphasised, however, that the slow progress is understandable, noting that, on the one hand, the Ministry of Electricity is proactive in ensuring the project happens, as it will help in electricity production. However, the ministry also has to bear in mind the economic balances, and will need to consider the Wind Farm project in relation to other projects, Carré added.

Mexico: Cemex expects its Ventika wind power project in the northeastern state of Nuevo Leon to start operations between April and June 2016, according to Luis Farias Martinez, vice president of Energy and Sustainability. The construction of the project, which was initiated in the middle of 2014, is about half complete.

The Ventika project, comprised of two 126MW wind farms, is located some 128km from Nuevo Leon's capital city of Monterrey and approximately 56km from the US border. The project requires investments of a total US$650m, which will come from US investment company Fisterra Energy, majority owned by funds managed by Blackstone Group, Cemex and other private investors. The investments are structured as 75% debt and 25% capital investment, of which Cemex has provided 5%.

Martinez, who is also head of the newly-established Cemex Energia, added that the Ventika project, as well as all previous Cemex projects, are fully independent and are not included in Cemex Energia's plans to develop 1000MW renewable power projects in Mexico by 2020 in cooperation with Pattern Energy Group.

Egypt: An official source in Egypt's Ministry of Electricity revealed that ItalGen, one of Italcementi Group affiliates, plans to build a 200MW wind power plant to increase its production capacity to 320MW. The plant will cost around US$220m. The project will be the first privately-built wind power plant to supply energy to plants of Suez Cement, an Italcementi subsidiary. Production capacity for the first phase would be 120MW, which would increase to 400MW in the future.

Colombia: Cemex is pursuing alternative energy sources, including landfill biogas, wind and solar energy, for its operations in Colombia. It has planned some US$50m of projects for the next five years. The company will look for partners among financial entities and investment funds, according to Edgar Angeles, Cemex's vice president of operations for Central, South America and the Caribbean.

Since the elaboration of Colombia's law on renewable energy, Cemex has been studying projects of this type. The law allows companies to invest in their own power supply and to sell any surplus on the wholesale market. Cemex wants to guarantee 100% of its power supply, compared to 65% now. It already has three small hydroelectric stations and a gas-fired plant in Colombia's Junin, Bucaramanga and Ibague municipalities.

Mexico: Cemex plans to develop a wind power project in Nuevo Leon state, Mexico with an investment of US$600m, according to chairman and CEO Lorenzo Zambrano. The project will consist of two wind farms that cost US$300m each, which could be installed within two years.

Cemex will use at least 10% of the power output and has identified potential customers that could purchase the remainder. The complex, dubbed Las Ventikas, is expected to generate energy savings of US$15m/yr for the company. Cemex could also install wind farms for its operations abroad, for example in the Philippines, where it is seeking a government permit for a project of this type.

Egypt: The Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company has signed a contract with Italgen, a subsidiary of global cement producer Italcementi Group, to produce electricity from wind energy. The contract authorises Italgen, which has been studying the possibility of incorporating wind technology since 2008, to become the first private investor to enter the Egyptian National Grid and construct a wind energy park in the area of Gulf El-Zeit, according to a statement.

Electrical energy generated from the wind park will be transmitted to plants run by Suez Cement, another Italcementi subsidiary, and will help in the reduction of CO2 emissions. The first phase in the project will represent an investment of around Euro120-130m. It will equate an installed capacity of 120MW and is expected to cover around 40% of Suez Cement's power needs. After the completion of the second phase, electrical energy is estimated to reach a capacity of 400MW.