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Catalonia Launches Large-Scale Wind Repowering With Les Colladetes Opening

It promises higher generation with fewer, larger turbines to help meet Catalonia's 2030 and 2050 energy goals.

Overview

  • The Les Colladetes repowering project was inaugurated on Friday and replaced 54 old turbines with six modern units, raising annual output by 79 percent from 74 to 133 GWh.
  • A Generalitat report published alongside the opening says 46 of 52 parks will reach end of life within ten years and that repowering could cut turbine numbers from about 756 to roughly 240 while keeping or modestly increasing installed capacity.
  • The government has approved a decree to prioritize renewable projects and proposed a dedicated working group and a monitoring table to speed permitting and coordinate the sector and promoters.
  • The report recommends pairing repowered parks with battery storage fields to smooth variable wind production and strengthen grid resilience, though battery deployment remains at the planning stage.
  • Repowering will replace many small, sub-1 MW turbines with taller, ~6 MW-class machines that are more widely spaced, a change the government says will reduce acoustic and land impacts while creating local jobs and economic activity but will depend on faster project approvals.