One of the wind leaders, Spain’s Iberdrola, has summarised its financial results for the first nine months of 2021. Iberdrola has decided to exercise its right of first refusal on one of its wind projects. The 300 MW Windanker offshore wind farm project will be built in the Baltic Sea within the Baltic Hub.
On the eve of the COP26 climate summit, in which the company is participating as a major partner through its subsidiary ScottishPower, Iberdrola reaffirmed its sustainable development strategy, which is based on electrification and supported by investment efforts that rose by 6% to €7.03 billion during the period, 77% of which went to international markets. Approximately 90% of investments went to the development of new renewable energy sources and smart grid projects.
As we read in the announcement, one of the main development segments of the group is the offshore wind energy. The company already has 1,300 MW of installed capacity using this technology and is in the process of building a total of 2,600 MW in several projects, namely Saint Brieuc (France), Vineyard Wind 1, Park City Wind (US) and Baltic Eagle (Germany). The projects will double Iberdrola’s offshore wind capacity in the upcoming years. In addition, Iberdrola has exercised its option to build the Windanker offshore wind farm, part of the Baltic Hub, which will have a total installed capacity of over 1 GW.
On September 1, 2021, during a ceremony in which representatives of Iberdrola and the Port of Mukran signed a land lease agreement for an operations building for Baltic Eagle, it was announced that Iberdrola plans to have a total of 1.1 GW of installed capacity (total investment – $4 billion (€3.5 billion)) in the German Baltic region by the end of 2026, a key market for the group. At the time, Iris Stempfle, Managing Director of Iberdrola Renovables Deutschland GmbH, also announced that on 1st of September the company had submitted a bid for the construction of Windanker’, a new offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea. The plan is to expand the Baltic Hub to over 1 GW by 2026. The hub consists of the Wikinger offshore farm project (350 MW) in operation since 2017 and Baltic Eagle (476 MW) which is under construction.
Iberdrola has decided to exercise its right of first refusal. The third 300 MW offshore farm project will require an investment of $930.8 million (€800 million). German energy company RWE won the German auction in September last year, but the Spanish company had a right of first refusal, allowing it to match the bid for the project.
Iberdrola will be able to take advantage of the synergies of the joint operation of the farms integrated in the Baltic Hub and maximise the output of the Windanker farm, which will most likely consist of turbines of around 15 MW. The Windanker farm will be commissioned in 2026 and most of the electricity is to be used for long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) in the German market.
Iberdrola’s offshore wind strategy will be driven by the auction procedures planned in the short and medium term in the main markets in which it operates or is present: Europe, the United States and the Asia-Pacific region. The company currently has 2,900 MW of offshore wind power under construction or secured for operation between 2023 and 2026 in the US and Europe. Iberdrola aims to deploy 12 GW in offshore wind by 2030
Another one of the development platforms – the acquisition of PNM Resources’ holding company in the US – is expected to be finalised before the end of 2021. With this transaction, Iberdrola will strengthen its position as one of the largest distributors and the third largest RES operator in the US market.
