Aixeindar, a joint venture between Iberdrola España and EVE, is offering citizens the opportunity to participate through crowdlending with the ‘Gure Haizea’ initiative, which promotes a new energy model that will be presented at a series of informational meetings to explain to residents how to join the renewable energy project.
Crowdlending is a type of collective collaborative financing that allows investors to obtain a quick return with an annual interest rate of 7%. It is primarily aimed at residents of Labraza, Barriobusto, Oion, and Rioja Alavesa, but is also open to the entire historical territory of Álava. The goal will always be to prioritize subscribers from the areas closest to the Labraza wind farm.
To explain the general outline of the Labraza project and this innovative financing product aimed at the citizens of Álava, Iberdrola Spain and the EVE have scheduled a series of open informational sessions, where attendees can learn firsthand about the characteristics of the participatory financial product and have any questions they may have answered. The scheduled dates are:
In addition, residents of the Administrative Districts of Labraza and Barriobusto will receive a special energy rate once the renewable infrastructure is operational and for the entire operational life of the wind farm.
Through these initiatives, the Labraza wind farm will provide a social benefit that will allow the people of Álava to be part of the farm’s construction, participating in the project’s financial investment and obtaining an attractive return while driving the transition toward a more sustainable energy model.
The project, which is already under construction, will utilize the most advanced environmental protection technologies. For instance, during the transport of its blades, the project will employ Blade Lifter technology—a European first—which uses the blade’s tilt to facilitate transport.
The Labraza wind farm will be the first to come online in the Basque Country since 2006, with an investment of 59 million euros—a move that represents a major boost for the Basque wind energy industry’s supply chain, a sector in which the Basque Country is a market leader.
The construction work has been awarded to the Navarre-based firm ECAY, the wind turbines to Siemens-Gamesa, and the expansion of the transmission substation to the engineering firm EDS, both Basque companies; the project does not require a new transmission line since it will use an existing one that connects to the electrical network (REE) in Laguardia.
The installation of this 40 MW wind farm will increase the Basque Country’s current installed wind power capacity by 26%, from 155 MW to 193 MW. Once operational, it will produce 99,679 MWh annually, supplying 30,000 households with renewable energy.
