Plans to develop Santa Fe Wind Farm

The company Eólica Energy S.A. has plans to develop a wind farm in Santa Fe, Veraguas. The wind farm, La Vikinga, will have 36 wind turbines and a development area of 2,200 hectares, 1,327 of which are in the protected area of the Santa Fe National Park.

According to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study submitted to the Ministry of Environment in March 2016, “exploration was carried out in the concession area, dividing it into two areas in order not to affect the protected area. For example, zone 1, where most of the wind turbines will be, will be ‘direct intervention’, which covers 872 hectares and is outside of the protected area of the Santa Fe National Park. This is an area being used for agricultural and livestock activities.”

Moses Fialko, from the team at Eólica Energy, said in a La Prensa article that “the estimated investment in the wind farm could be between 160 million and 190 million. In regards to the concession and some of the wind turbines being in an environmental reserve, he explained that this is something that has not yet been defined, but at the moment more than 80% of the project is planned to be in areas which are private property, in a possible absorption area and in which the land use right now is grazing or agriculture.”

The EIA indicates that the estimated investment is $150 million.