Florida I & II
Florida I, at the forefront of the energy transition
Florida 1 is located in the region of the same name in Uruguay, 100km north from the capital city of Montevideo. Commissioned in 2014, it was Akuo’s first wind farm to be brought into operation in the country. The wind plant comprises 21 Nordex N117/2400 wind turbines with 2.4MW capacity each, mounted on 91-meter towers. Florida I has a total installed capacity of 50MW.
The plant has been complemented in 2016 with Florida 2, an extension of Florida 1
Akuo secured non-recourse project financing of $88.5m for the plant with the European Development Financing Institutions, PROPARCO, DEG and FMO. Uruguay’s state power company Usinas y Terminales Eléctricas (UTE) purchases the electricity generated from both farms under 20-year power purchase agreements. The plant has been a real contribution to the achievement of the energy transition objectives of Uruguay, which has an electricity production of 97% from renewable energy in 2022 (Source: https://www.tresor.economie.gouv.fr/).
In this project the relation that landowners have developed with Akuo is a relation of trust, which is a genuine enabler to a smooth daily operation of the project.
From the team which was on board since the development and construction phases, most people remain in Akuo and this is also a key for the success of these projects which are much more than an asset to us.
Local approach
Alongside the development of this project, teams from Akuo Uruguay were involved in the rehabilitation of Florida’s School 74, located on the site of the wind farm. This 25-pupil school was in a poor condition and has been entirely renovated during construction of the farms.
The Florida II extension
The plant has a total of 49,5MW installed capacity, with 15 Vestas V117 wind turbines with a nominal capacity of 3,3 MW each and has been in operation since August 2016. Florida II is an extension of Florida I with a similar total capacity, and both have production ratios of over 40%. The green electricity generated by these two plants is sufficient to supply the region twice over.
Florida II is the third asset brought online by Akuo in Uruguay, hence taking its installed capacity in this country to 142 MW, and therefore benefited from a very steep learning curve. Most of the parties were the same (notably turbine supplier (Vestas), senior lenders (KfW IPEX-Bank and EKF) and shareholders (EURUS)) as those involved in the Minas project. This is thus the second project successfully implemented jointly by Akuo and Eurus. The electricity generated by Florida II will be directly purchased by UTE, Uruguay’s state-owned grid operator, within the framework of a 20-year dollar-denominated and inflation-indexed power purchase contract.
Such as Florida I, the plant helped Uruguay to reach 97% of electricity production from renewable sources in 2022.
Our CSR commitment
Extended Commitment
In 2023 Akuo has decided to step in for a second time in school renovation. Upon request of the director, Akuo will partner again for the entire operation life of our wind farms and support school operations.
