Bolivia plans to build 4 new wind farms in 2016 The Bolivian government plans to build four new wind farms at a cost of $200 million in 2016, state-owned power company ENDE said. The wind farms will be located in the eastern province of Santa Cruz and the southern province of Tarija, ENDE president Eduardo Paz told the official ABI news agency. The wind farms will each have more than 12 towers equipped with wind turbines, with total combined generating capacity exceeding 150 MW, Paz said. Final site selection should be completed in February and the auction is expected to take place a month later, the ENDE chief said. Bolivia plans to invest $27 billion over the next eight to 10 years to transform itself into "the energy heart" of the Southern Cone, exporting electricity and natural gas. Bolivia currently has a generating capacity of 1,850 MW and electricity demand of 1,300 MW. President Evo Morales's administration has set a goal of having 6,000 MW of generating capacity by 2025, with half of the electricity going to the domestic market and the rest being exported. Bolivia currently has the Qollpana wind farm in the central part of the country, where two wind turbines produce 3 MW of electricity. The government hired Spain's TSK Electronica y Electricidad in 2014 to add eight more wind turbines at the facility. |