IberBlue Wind Develops its First Floating Offshore Wind Project with 990 MW of Capacity

IberBlue Wind develops its first floating offshore wind project with 990 MW of capacity

IberBlue Wind's innovative approach which is based on the experience and knowledge of our three members: Simply Blue Group, Proes Consultores and FF NEV, takes shape with the first of its projects that we will promote in the Iberian market: Nao Victoria. A name that evokes the ship of the Magellan-Elcano expedition that circumnavigated the globe for the first time in the 16th century and which also reflects the ambition with which we face our commitment; to be a leading player in the development of offshore wind energy in Spain and Portugal.

The waters of the Alboran Sea, off the coast of Cadiz and Malaga, is the location chosen to develop a wind farm whose figures show an installed capacity of 990 MW, which will occupy an area of 310km2 and will have 55 wind turbines, with which it will be possible to supply electricity to hundreds of thousands of homes.

The commissioning of the first floating wind farm that we are going to promote will involve an investment of several billion and will contribute to boosting the economy of Andalusia, a strategic area for our joint venture, with the creation of thousands of jobs. The development and construction of the wind farm will account for the majority of the jobs, and subsequent jobs will be in the operation and maintenance of the wind turbines during operational periods.

A transparent and inclusive process  

To achieve this objective, we have already sent in the Initial Project Document (DIP) with the technical characteristics of the park to the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO). We have also initiated contacts with regional and local institutions, as well as with groups in the area, in order to gather all the contributions and provide the project with maximum transparency and integration in the territory.

In line with this, our project seeks to minimise the impact of the wind turbines on the landscape as much as possible. To this end, they will be located at a distance of between 25 to 40 kilometres from the coast on floating platforms anchored to the seabed. This technology allows the wind farm to be located in a deeper area, which overcomes the difficulty posed by the narrow continental shelf of the Iberian Peninsula.

According to Adrián de Andrés, Vice-President of IberBlue Wind, the choice of Andalusia as the site for our first wind farm is due to the fact that “It is an area with great potential for development in floating offshore wind energy and this wind farm, due to its size and type of infrastructure, could position the region as a benchmark for offshore wind.”  

Upcoming projects in Galicia and Portugal

Nao Victoria opens a path that will be joined by new projects with which IberBlue Wind will present itself to public auctions, which should take place in the coming months. Along with Andalusia, we are going to invest in Galicia and Portugal, another strategic area for the consortium. In the Portuguese market, where we also aspire to be a benchmark, we are going to focus mainly on the North and Central areas, due to their high wind resource.