IberBlue to Build 990 MW Floating Offshore Wind Project in Portugal

IberBlue Wind, which delves into the design, development and management of floating offshore wind farms that will operate in the Iberian market, has announced its first project for Portugal, which is a floating offshore wind farm off the coast of Figueira da Foz. The project will be called Botafogo. The floating offshore the wind farm will occupy an area of 359 sq km and will have 55 wind turbines, each with a capacity of 18 MW, making a total of 990 MW of installed capacity.

The firm said that this wind project could supply electricity to hundreds of thousands of homes. IberBlue Wind is a joint venture firm created to promote floating offshore wind farms in the Iberian Peninsula.

Figueira da Foz is one of the five areas proposed by the Portuguese government for offshore renewable energy exploration, and the choice of IberBlue Wind in this area is justified by the combination of its high wind potential, port infrastructure and low impact on other activities in the area.

The implementation of this project requires close collaboration with different stakeholders. IberBlue Wind has already engaged with ports and regional and local institutions, to ensure its project is integrated in the best way possible into the region.

IberBlue said that Botafogo offshore wind farm will be constructed on floating platforms anchored to the seabed allowing it to be located 30-50 km from the coast. This technology allows the wind turbines to be located in deeper waters further from shore, which overcomes the limitations posed to bottom-fixed installations by the narrowness of the continental shelf off the Iberian Peninsula.

Adrián de Andrés, VP, IberBlue Wind, said, “Figueira da Foz is a region with great potential. Besides the high wind strengths and the existing port infrastructure, it’s located near to the centre of the country where there is significant demand for energy from both industrial and private consumers.”

IberBlue Wind aims to develop at least 2 GW of offshore wind capacity off the Iberian Peninsula using floating wind farms each of 500 MW or more.

In addition to Botafogo, IberBlue Wind announced another project in Spain last November called Nao Victoria, located in the Alboran Sea, off the coasts of Cadiz and Malaga, which will also have an installed capacity of 990 MW.

Portugal has one of the highest offshore wind energy potential in Europe. According to an estimate, it has a potential of 131 GW of wind energy: 117 GW in floating and 14 GW in bottom-fixed.