Ferrovial launches into offshore wind power in conflict with Iberdrola, Cobra and BlueFloat | companies
The initiative for a park with 495 megawatts (MW) of installed power off the coast of Lugo has become the letter of introduction of Ferrovial What offshore wind power developer.
The papers were forwarded at the end of last week to the Ministry of Ecological Transition, being registered on Monday, and to this development is added a second in the waters of Pontevedra, proposed immediately after, with identical installed power. With this, Ferrovial launches its growth plan for renewable energies and demonstrates a firm commitment to offshore wind power, where the so-called 1,000 Galician MW they are the first of the group in the initial processing phase.
The infrastructure firm enters the league of the great promoters of this source of renewable energy. The first of the facilities now seeking environmental authorizations has been named Celtic I.
Different promoters have proposed 3,700 MW of wind power in Galician waters
Ferrovial’s two farms are among the six offshore wind farms that are candidates to generate clean energy in Galician waters, where requests for permits for 3,700 megawatts. This volume contrasts with the 3,000 MW that the Ecological Transition has set as a goal for 2030 in the Roadmap for the Development of Offshore Wind and Sea Energies.
The largest project is the 1,200 MW Nordes offshore park, which BlueFloat Energy and Sener They seek to build between Cedeira and Cariño, in A Coruña. Behind this is the Galdwind plant, at the initiative of Cobra, with 1,000 MW between Lugo and A Coruña, where the implementation of 68 wind turbines is planned. The San Brandán park, processed by Iberdrola, is designed with 490 MW to the north of A Coruña, and the San Cibrao park, also at the request of Iberdrola, part with the same installed capacity (490 MW) and has been designed to the east of the Cabo Ortegal, in Lugo. These developments are going through different processing phases and are pending the quota of megawatts granted by the Government in Galicia.
Ferrovial’s attempt, in competition with the aforementioned Iberdola, Cobra and the tandem formed by BlueFloat (owned by the US company 547 Energy and the Quantum Energy Partners fund) and Sener, comes when the Executive says to finalize the Maritime Space Management Plans, a document that will determine the waters that can receive wind farms and that will regulate the rights of use for the promotion off the Spanish coast. The Government, which has been warned by Brussels for the accumulated delay, intends to have the regulation in place before the end of this year.
Subsidiary in development
The infrastructure firm he presides over Rafael del Pino It acts through Ferrovial Infraestructuras Energéticas. The latter hangs from the Energy Infrastructure and Mobility area directed by Gonzalo Nieto. The permits have been requested from the Ministry of Theresa Rivera by the technical director, César Saiz Payans.
The Polish subsidiary Budimex explores investment opportunities in offshore wind power in the Baltic Sea
wind farms offshore pursued in Galicia by the aforementioned large groups join many other projects in the initial phases located in Catalan, Andalusian and Canarian waters. Sources close to Ferrovial explain that its two initiatives in Galicia constitute its first experience in this field apart from the pilot project for the construction of a floating platform in the Basque Country together with partners Saitec and RWE.
As pointed out Galician Digital Economythe requests off the coast of A Mariña (Lugo), make sense in view of the fact that the connection of the parks with the mainland can be made through the electrical substation located in San Cibrao, also from Lugo.
Ferrovial’s entry into renewable energies, after an initial experience in photovoltaics in Seville, is related to the new direction taken by the listed company after divestment in the urban and environmental services business. Its immersion in offshore wind power, in November 2020, occurred with the aforementioned execution of a floating concrete platform two miles off the coast of Vizcaya.
But Galicia is not the only front opened by this company. The experimental project known as DemoSATH, and the promotion attempt in Lugo and Pontevedra, joins the agreement signed this summer by the Polish subsidiary Budimex with EDF Renewables to invest in Poland.
The Eastern country has opened up to a second phase of development in the Baltic Sea, with 11 new sites in search of increasing autonomy and energy security. The Polish Government has set itself the goal of self-sufficiency in the year 2026 and plans to install 11,000 new offshore wind megawatts.
