First published in Quoted Cleantech, april 2011. Copyright Cleantech Investor 2011  

Spain’s Iberdrola Energias Renovables has begun the construction of the world’s largest wind power complex in the Dobrogea region of Romania. Iberdrola, which is already the biggest renewable energy firm in the world, has started building an 80MW wind farm that will eventually form part of a network of 50 farms with a combined capacity of 1.5GW.

The Mihai Viteazu wind farm, Iberdrola’s first in Romania, is being built using 40 2MW wind turbines from fellow Spanish firm Gamesa. Iberdrola plans to finish the Dobrogea wind complex, which it describes as the largest renewable energy project in the world to date, by the end of 2017.

Iberdrola has already signed an off-take agreement with the Romanian network operator, Transeléctrica, setting the terms for connecting the planned 1.5GW of new capacity to the national grid.

In February, Iberdrola announced that its net profit for 2010 was down 3% on the previous year to €360 million. Despite this, shares in the company gained 12.1% during March, closing the month at €3.05.

Iberdrola, the world’s largest owner-operator of wind farms, had announced in January that it built more renewable capacity in 2010 than any other utility globally, bringing 39 new wind facilities, with a total capacity of 1.8GW, on stream in eight countries. Of these capacity additions, 60% were in the US, where Iberdrola commissioned 18 new wind farms last year, amounting to a combined capacity of more than 1GW.
According to Iberdrola, a significant part of its growth in the US was due mainly to the favourable regulatory environment there. The company said that, to date, it has received $1 billion in grants from the US Government, which it plans to reinvest in further projects in the country.

Market: Madrid 
Symbol: IBR 
Price: €3.05 
12-month high/low: €3.30/€2.25 
Market cap: €12.9bn

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