Italian renewable energy corporation Enel Green Power (EGP) has commenced construction on the 90MW Azov wind farm in the Rostov region in southern Russia.
The Azov wind farm is the Enel Group’s first renewable project in Russia and also the first renewable facility in the Rostov region.
Enel Group subsidiary Enel Russia owns the Azov wind farm. EGP, which has completed the development stage, is in charge of construction activities.
The facility will comprise 26 turbines spread across 133 hectares. Enel Russia’s overall investment in the Azov wind farm amounts to €132m (£116m).
Enel Green Power global head Antonio Cammisecra said: “With this new wind project, we are embarking upon our journey towards the creation of a renewable footprint in Russia.
“We are looking forward to producing energy with both our Russian wind farms, and we will continue scouting for new opportunities in this renewables-rich country.
“Moving ahead, we plan to further leverage on this wealth of resources and keep on fuelling Russia’s economy through an increasingly diversified generation mix.”
Expected to enter into service by the end of 2020, the Azov wind farm project will be able to generate around 320GWh of clean energy each year once fully operational, avoiding annual emission of around 260,000 tonnes of CO2.
Enel Russia secured the contract for the Azov wind farm, along with the 201MW Murmansk wind farm, for a total capacity of 291MW, in the 2017 Russian tender for the construction of 1.9GW of wind capacity in the country.
EGP is in charge of the development and construction of both projects.
Overall investment in the two facilities by Enel Russia amounts to approximately €405m (£358m), with investment in the 201MW wind farm amounting to around €273m (£241m).
Enel Russia operates four thermal power plants in the Russian Federation with a total installed capacity of around 9.5GW.
Enel Green Power has operations in Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania.
