Wind brings the desert back to life
Wind brings the desert back to life
The Dominica wind farm in Charcas, built by Enel Green Power, is an open-air laboratory where sustainability and innovation are carried out in a unique way, to create shared value for the benefit of the local community and of our activity.
Clean energy, environmental protection, promotion of local entrepreneurship and support to education: many objectives for one single project. It’s what Enel has achieved in Mexico, in the municipality of Charcas, some 140 Km from the town of San Luis Potosí.
The Dominica wind farm, built by Enel Green Power, is an open-air laboratory where sustainability and innovation are carried out in a unique way to create shared value for the benefit of the local community and of our activity.
Technology and common good
The 100 turbines of the Enel Green Power can produce 200 MW of clean energy, which can provide electricity to some 143,000 households and makes a contribution to the new ‘green age’ that has started in Mexico.
Together with the wind turbines, we have also built a greenhouse for the cultivation of cacti, an electric mill to treat desert plants, an insect breed farm.
“A hand for life”
The greenhouse, the mill and the breeding farm are part of the wind farm and of “A hand for life”, the project that turns the plant into one of the most significant examples of the Creating shared value (CSV) model that we implement wherever we operate.
“We have turned the compensation obligations prescribed for by Mexican law into opportunities in the fields of environmental protection, employment and development of local communities.”
Fabian R. Razo Caudillo, Enel Green Power CSV engineer at Dominica
“A hand for life” supports environmental protection in the area of Charcas, is making cacti – which also provide nourishment to local inhabitants - blossom again and supports the activity of farmers and breeders.
The desert blossoms together with local communities
In the cactus greenhouse plants are grown for ornamental purposes and for reforestation. The activities for the protection of the flora in the area surrounding the plant have resulted in the actual rescue of 16 species of the region of which we now have about 30,000 specimen.
In the Maguey mill plants typical of semi-desert areas are treated with benefits for about 200 people of the communities. The American agave, known as maguey, is transformed by the electric mill with the same name to obtain forage for the flock of goats belonging to a local shepherd and to produce the so-called aguamiel, a syrup widely used by the people in their common diet.
We help train farmers in the sustainable cultivation and extraction of the maguey worms and larvae of ants that are marketed as traditional food of the region.
Clean energy for the school
Dominica was also the vehicle to further develop the education of young people in the area who attend the Telesecundaria Manuel José Othon school.
“The school now has electricity, while before the community had no service at all.”
Cristina Rocha Zamarrón, teacher at Telesecundaria Manuel José Othon school
We have donated infrastructure and solar panels to the local school, so it has stable access to electricity. The school uses television for remote lessons. Without secure and steady energy this model could not work.