ACCIONA Windpower erecting wind turbines near Mechanicsville

ACCIONA Windpower on Tuesday announced plans to install two 3-megawatt wind turbines this summer in a renewable energy project near Mechanicsville in Cedar County.

The turbines for the Pioneer Grover Wind Farm will be manufactured at ACCIONA's plant off Interstate 80 in West Branch. Construction is expected to be completed in the second half of this year.

Joe Baker, chief executive officer of ACCIONA Windpower North America, said the renewable energy power plant has a long-term power purchase agreement with Central Iowa Power Cooperative.

"The AW-3000 turbines at Pioneer Grove will produce more power, more efficiently than anything we‘ve installed before," Baker said. "With technology like the AW-3000, we can drive down energy costs and begin to take full advantage of our clean energy resources."

The Pioneer Grove Wind Farm will use two different tower technologies, which are both suitable for the AW-3000. One tower will be constructed to a height of 92 meters, using steel, while the other tower uses a concrete solution and will reach a height of 100 meters.

ACCIONA Windpower in West Branch employs about 100 workers to assemble wind turbines. The company, owned by ACCIONA Energia of Pamplona, Spain, broke ground for the plant in May 2007 and produced its first wind turbine in December of that year.