La Muela

Community

Approximately 4.5% of the shares of the wind farms at La Muela are owned by the Region of Aragon DGA (local administration). In addition, the local community receives approximately €1,100 per turbine annually from both wind farms. The community will receive more than €3 million over the lifetime of Plana de Jaretta and La Carracha wind farms.

The Municipality of La Muela has seen rapid growth over the last twenty years as a result of the wind farms being developed in the community. In 1987, there were only 740 inhabitants and a lot of wind on the high plain 23 km southwest of Zaragoza. In 2005, there were 3,500 people living in La Muela with 4,000 new apartments being erected for yet a further 12,000 inhabitants. The municipal budget is now more than eighty times higher than in 1987. All of this has been made possible through the consistent construction of wind farms on the high plain that offers perfect conditions for the exploitation of wind energy. Presently, the La Muela area has 371 wind turbines with an installed capacity of 407 MW. In Aragon as a whole the installed capacity 1549 MW, so La Muela area has around 16% of capacity in Aragon

The economic growth, thanks to the use of wind energy, has had direct positive effects on the citizens of La Muela. The municipality is now equipped with modern kindergartens and schools. Schoolbooks, libraries, Internet access, computer training courses and music schools are free of charge. New sports facilities and a congress centre have also been built.

For more information about the growth and successes of La Muela download this article (pdf)