IberBlue Wind, a joint venture (JV) in the Iberian market, has revealed two floating offshore wind projects on the North Atlantic coast on the border between Spain and Portugal.
The projects will have a combined capacity of up to 1.96GW.
The projects, Juan Sebastián Elcano and Creoula, will have approximately 109 turbines and will occupy an area of 530 sq km off the coasts of Baixo Miño in Pontevedra and Viana do Castelo.
Juan Sebastián Elcano will consist of 29 wind turbines, 18MW each, which gives it a nominal capacity of 522MW.
The wind turbines, installed on floating platforms anchored to the seabed, will extend from As Mariñas to A Guarda, over an area of 117 sq km.
The location is within the delimitations recently established by the Spanish Government under their Maritime Space Management Plans (POEM), among which is the North Atlantic demarcation, called NOR-1.
The project will support local Galician industry which has the ability and experience to undertake this kind of project.
Creoula will have 80 turbines, 18MW each, and an installed capacity of 1440MW.
The project will cover an area of 413 sq km.
Creoula is also located within the areas proposed by the Portuguese Government for offshore wind farm development and will contribute to the target set to install 10GW of offshore wind by 2030.
The names Juan Sebastián Elcano and Creoula were chosen for the projects as a tribute to two historic training ships that are part of the Spanish and Portuguese Navy.
The global investment required for the construction and maintenance of the two projects could exceed €4000m and could result in more than 5000 jobs.
It is estimated that the cost of their joint development could be 32% lower than if they were to be developed separately.
Adrián de Andrés, Vice President of IberBlue Wind, said: “It is very exciting to develop cross-border floating offshore wind projects and to collaborate with both Portuguese and Spanish governments on this positive opportunity for both countries.
“We have already engaged with both authorities when we presented our projects to the Spanish and Portuguese authorities and we look forward to continued engagement.”
IberBlue Wind’s partners are Simply Blue Group, Proes Consultores, the engineering division of Grupo Amper, and FF New Energy Ventures (FF NEV), a developer of renewable projects.