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Gamesa Eólica, Spain's dominant wind turbine supplier, has clinched a EUR 300 million deal to supply 498 MW across 18 wind projects in the Mediterranean region of Valencia. The developer is Proyectos Eólicos Valencianos (PEV), a consortium headed by Spain's top utility, Endesa. Significantly, the deal marks the first turbine supply agreement between Gamesa and a company controlled by Endesa. Until now, Gamesa's loyalties have lain with Iberdrola, Endesa's arch rival. Iberdrola owns 31.7% of Gamesa through IBV, an investment joint venture it owns half of. The Valencian deal reportedly forms part of an agreement last year associated with the sale to Gamesa of Endesa's former wind turbine manufacturing arm, Made Tecnologías. If so, the link explains how Gamesa managed to beat a competing bid from the world's largest turbine supplier, Vestas of Denmark. Furthermore, the sale last month by Gamesa of its 20 MW Florines wind plant in Sardinia, Italy, indicates that the Made purchase was part of a wider agreement to strengthen the hand of Spanish interests against foreign competitors. PEV landed its development concession in Valencia as part of a regional government call for bids for 2300 MW of wind issued in 2002. The other stakeholders in PEV are Sedesa, a regional construction firm, with 25%, and Bancaja, a bank, with 20%.