Iberdrola Planning 300 MW Floating Offshore Wind Farm in Spain

Iberdrola is planning what will be the first industrial-scale floating offshore wind farm in Spain, allocating more than EUR 1 billion.

Iberdrola is planning what will be the first industrial-scale floating offshore wind farm in Spain, to which it would allocate more than EUR 1 billion of investment to commission 300 MW of clean energy off the Spanish coast. The project has been submitted to the Next Generation EU programme and is aligned with the pillars of the Spanish government’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.

The project would also contribute to the fight against climate change, with 202,500 tonnes of carbon emissions saved per year.

It is expected that the study, design and engineering work could begin this year and it could generate more than 2,800 jobs per year until it becomes operational in 2026. The scheme would require the participation of 66 Spanish companies and technology centres, including 52 SMEs. In the short term, the initiative could generate between 1,000 and 2,000 jobs during 2021-2022, before the start of the construction phase.

The firm has stated that this innovative and pioneering project would spearhead the development of up to 2,000 MW of floating offshore wind projects identified by the company off the coasts of Galicia, Andalusia and the Canary Islands.

The project is one of 150 initiatives submitted by the company to the Next Generation EU programme – in the fields of heat electrification, floating offshore, sustainable mobility, green hydrogen, innovative renewables, smart grids, circular economy and energy storage – that would mobilise investments of EUR 21 billion and involve hundreds of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Iberdrola has one of the largest offshore wind pipelines in the market, amounting to more than 30 GW. The company operates wind farms in the German Baltic Sea (Wikinger and Baltic Eagle), the North Sea (East Anglia ONE) and the Irish Sea (West of Duddon Sands). It is also making progress in the Vineyard Wind ONE (800 MW off the coast of Massachusetts), Park City Wind (with a capacity of 804 MW) and Kitty Hawk (Virginia) projects -through Vineyard Wind- and in the Saint Brieuc wind farm off the French coast.

In recent months, it has also gained access to an early-stage pipeline in new markets, which will become growth platforms, such as Sweden, Japan, Poland and Ireland. In Denmark, Iberdrola has recently agreed to participate with Total in the country’s upcoming auction for the Thor offshore wind farm (1 GW). By 2025, Iberdrola expects to reach 60 GW of installed renewable capacity worldwide, of which 4 GW will be offshore wind.