10 new meteorological towers will be installed to measure the wind resource in the provinces of the south-central Sierra of the country

This Celec release was published using machine translation.

The Electric Corporation of Ecuador (CELEC EP) carries out the activities of the Corporate Wind Plan, which is developed by the Expansion Planning Department, in coordination with different Business Units, including CELEC EP GENSUR, who signed the contract for the acquisition and installation of 10 meteorological towers to measure the wind resource in the center and south of the inter-Andean alley of Ecuador.

The objective of this contract is to strengthen the meteorological network for the monitoring and measurement of the wind resource in the country, which will serve to develop a portfolio of new projects that contribute to the sustainable expansion of the National Interconnected System (SNI). Additionally, these measurements will serve to advance the research and analysis of Ecuador's wind resource.

The public contracting process began in 2020, with the identification of possible sites through a multi-criteria evaluation, which allowed the selection of the best sites from the point of view of wind resources, accessibility, topography, environmental aspects, electrical interconnection, among others. In such a way that the best sites have been selected that will allow a comprehensive/multi-criteria evaluation of the wind resource.

CELEC EP has been working specifically with several Business Units (GENSUR, CELECSUR) and electrical distribution companies (Empresa Eléctrica Riobamba, Empresa Eléctrica Cotopaxi and CNEL Bolívar), who have provided their support and contingent in the various field visits that have been carried out, in which a high wind potential has been confirmed in the center and south of the inter-Andean alley.

For this reason, it is planned to install, in the short term, measurement towers mainly in the provinces of Loja, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi and Bolívar. It is important to emphasize that this effort seeks to expand the existing wind potential in the country, and particularly in the province of Loja, which leads wind development in the country, whose experience will be expanded and replicated in the rest of the national territory.

The meteorological towers will be installed in compliance with international IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) regulations, to guarantee an adequate process and quality of resource measurement. The meteorological towers will have a height of 100 meters and will be equipped with calibrated and certified sensors by the international network of wind measurement laboratories MEASNET, the most prestigious in the world for the measurement of wind speed and direction, temperature, pressure , and relative humidity.

Once the towers are installed, the measured data will be sent daily and remotely to the Corporation's servers, where they will be analyzed by CELEC EP's specialized technical staff, meeting the highest standards of the IEC and MEASNET standards.

The analysis of the measurements will be the main input for the development of the portfolio of new wind projects in the country, which will be put to the consideration of the Ministry of Energy and Non-Renewable Natural Resources (MERNNR) to contribute to the Electricity Master Plan, according to the Interinstitutional Cooperation Agreement No. MAT-CON-0045-21, signed between the MERNNR and CELEC EP.

For the General Manager of the Electric Corporation of Ecuador CELEC EP, Ing. Gonzalo Uquillas Vallejo, the use of non-conventional renewable resources in the country is of national interest and this process is part of the work carried out by this Corporation.