The Board of Directors of Eólicas de Lanzarote S.L. has agreed to urgently contract the maintenance and operation service of the Los Valles Park, in the same session in which it has approved the definitive termination of the previous contract signed with Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios S.A..
According to sources from the Cabildo, the process initiated to dispense with the previous contractor has concluded after "rigorously resolving the mandatory period of allegations and observing the technical reports of the audit commissioned by the entity and carried out on the wind turbines."
Eólicas de Lanzarote S.L., participated by Inalsa through the Water Consortium by 60% and by Enel Green Power España (Endesa) by 40%, decided a few weeks ago to initiate the termination of the wind turbine maintenance contract "due to serious breaches" by the service operator. The contractor took over the work in December 2019, after winning the tender for a contract that was expected to last four years.
Execution of guarantee and compensatory actions
The Board of Directors also agreed to seize and execute the guarantee deposited by the insurer, amounting to 58,808.55 euros, as well as to proceed with the assessment of the damages caused to Eólicas de Lanzarote S.L., for which "the necessary actions will be taken to alleviate the situation of damage generated by the breaches." In addition, it was agreed to notify and summon Cobra within a maximum period of five days to sign the corresponding departure report from the facilities.
"We could not allow the production of renewable energy for Lanzarote and La Graciosa to clash with serious and sustained problems over time, with inoperative wind turbines for long periods, as well as other incidents in the maintenance of the Los Valles Wind Farm," said the president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, María Dolores Corujo, detailing the outcome of this file.
Now, in addition to terminating the contract, the entity participated by the Water Consortium has also decided in its Board of Directors this Monday to initiate the corresponding file to temporarily entrust a company with the performance of the necessary services in the Los Valles Wind Farm - with a power of 8.5 MW (megawatts) generated by a dozen wind turbines - until a new tender for the operation and maintenance service of the facilities is completed.
Specifically, it involves initiating, through urgent processing, by negotiated procedure without publicity, the contracting file for the Operation and Maintenance Service of the wind turbines and associated complementary infrastructures of the Los Valles Wind Farm, "in order to reverse the situation in the shortest possible time and to avoid further damage," as explained by María Dolores Corujo.
The island president also raised at the Board meeting the need to advance simultaneously with the negotiated procedure in the processing of a new tender - this time by open procedure - for the Operation and Maintenance Service of the park.
"The forecast is that in a few weeks the energy production of the Los Valles Wind Farm will be ensured again, being able to carry out the replacement of large components normally in a short period of time, as well as having a stock to support the operation of the wind turbines, some of the flaws observed in the last year," they point out from the Island Corporation.
Finally, they report that Eólicas de Lanzarote S.L. settled its profit and loss account last year with a total of 1,411,314.53 euros of profit, before taxes. "This meant a substantial increase in business compared to the atypical year of 2020," they highlight.
