Naturgy has begun the technological transformation of the Somozas wind farm, located in the municipality of the same name in A Coruña, which will involve replacing 81 wind turbines with 9 state-of-the-art machines. As part of the project, the existing machines will be dismantled and replaced with more modern and efficient wind turbines, the natural environment of the areas previously occupied by the wind turbines will be restored and the electrical substation will be modernised. The work is scheduled for completion in mid-2026.
The Somozas wind farm modernisation project involves an investment of 67 million euros and is financed by the EU’s NextGenerationEU package as part of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, through the Spanish Institute for Energy Savings and Diversification’s (IDAE) Circular Repowering Programme. It will significantly reduce the visual and environmental impact of the facility, while also taking advantage of existing infrastructures such as the evacuation systems or part of the buildings. The new configuration will slightly reduce the installed capacity to 46.4 MW from the current 49.6 MW, but will increase the annual production of clean energy to 168 GWh, equivalent to the electricity consumption of approximately 48,000 households.
A substantial proportion of the materials obtained in the dismantling process will be recycled and recovered. More than 10.5 million kilos will be managed, of which 75% is carbon steel and 17% is cement and aggregates. The remaining 9% is mainly made up of copper, aluminium, fibreglass, wood and PVC, in addition to other materials. Only a very small fraction, around 7% consisting of glass fibre and SF6, will be treated by authorised waste collectors in accordance with current legislation.
With a history spanning more than 25 years, the Somozas wind farm has been harmoniously integrated into its surroundings since its beginnings. This repowering project, which is being carried out by Galician companies, not only reinforces Naturgy’s commitment to renewable energies, but also further integrates the wind farm into its natural environment and boosts local economic development and job creation, consolidating the municipality of As Somozas as a sustainability and energy efficiency benchmark.
Naturgy’s delegate for Renewable Projects in Galicia, María Landeira, stated that “the repowering of wind farms is a key element of our renewable growth strategy in Galicia, where we are developing three projects that will take us from 172 to just 25 wind turbines”.
In addition to Somozas, Naturgy is developing two other repowering projects in Galicia: Monte Redondo (Vimianzo), where dismantling operations began at the end of April, and Novo (Valdoviño, San Sadurniño and Narón). The Monte Redondo wind farm will replace its current 66 wind turbines with 11 state-of-the-art machines that will maintain the installed capacity of 49.5 MW and increase annual production to 200 GWh, equivalent to the electricity consumption of approximately 57,000 homes. The Novo wind farm will go from 25 to 5 wind turbines, maintaining the installed capacity of 18.75 MW and generating around 50.5 GWh per year, enough to supply around 14,500 homes.
Naturgy was one of the first to undertake wind repowering projects in Galicia at the Cabo Vilano wind farm (Camariñas), where in 2016 it replaced 22 wind turbines with just 2 new ones to significantly improve production and reduce the facility’s visual impact.
Commitment to Energy Transition
Naturgy remains committed to promoting the energy transition and the development of renewable projects. The group has 7.3 GW of installed capacity internationally. During 2024, the company commissioned 842 MW, of which 271 MW corresponds to projects in Spain, 555 MW in Australia and 14 MW in Latin America.
To develop this new renewable capacity, the company invested a total of 926 million euros: 374 million euros in Spain, 311 million in Australia, 240 million in the United States and 1 million euros in Latin America. These investments confirm its commitment to a more sustainable energy mix, as well as its commitment to the energy transition, without neglecting the fundamental objectives of value creation and growth for each of the businesses as well as ESG objectives.
In addition, the group currently has around 1.6 GW of renewable capacity under construction, 838 MW of which are planned in Spain, as well as 360 MW in Australia and 387 MW in the United States.