Spain's late start in the offshore wind industry

In the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC), the Spanish government has set a target of installing 3 GW of offshore wind energy off its coasts by 2030. This is an ambitious target, considering that no offshore wind turbines have yet been installed on a commercial scale. However, this is now set to change as quickly as possible.

One of the challenges is to make progress on the legal framework and planning as quickly as possible in order to get the development of the first wind farms underway. The conditions could not be better: Spain is already a centre of industrial and technological production for offshore wind products.

The country has production facilities and logistical infrastructures that cover practically the entire value chain of offshore wind technology. The Dragados Offshore shipyard in Cádiz is currently the only one in Europe where converter stations can be manufactured. Siemens Energy is currently having the BorWin epsilon offshore converter platform manufactured there, which will later form the technological centrepiece of the TenneT BorWin5 project in the German North Sea. Although the course has recently been set in Germany to build corresponding stations there as well, Spain is still ahead at the moment.

The industry and government want wind turbines to be spinning off the Spanish coast soon (Image: Pixabay)

The President of the Spanish Wind Energy Association (AEE), Juan Diego Díaz, emphasised the urgency at a recent event: "We are at a crucial moment. We are 100% dependent on regulation and planning. We now need the long-term signals that activate the mechanisms to move forward as quickly as possible. Given the political and economic situation in the country, we are behind schedule, but we are optimistic and can still tackle the development of offshore wind energy in time so that we do not fall further behind other countries in our environment. Cooperation between all players in the sector, public administrations and territories is essential for the harmonious development of offshore wind energy in order to achieve understanding and positive synergies between all stakeholders."

Figures from the Spanish Wind Energy Association indicate a very large development potential: More than 7,500 new jobs will be created in the labour market for the period from 2025 to 2030 alone, and as many as 17,500 specialised professionals will be needed for the period from 2045 to 2050, most of whom will benefit local coastal communities.

The government is aware that time is of the essence and has announced swift measures. Sara Aagesen, the Secretary of State for Energy, said that "before the end of the year, we will start the consultation and information process on the regulatory framework for offshore wind energy, which will lay the foundations for the development of projects with an agile process and with maximum guarantees that will simultaneously ensure the economic regulation of the auction, the reservation of access capacity and the reservation of the maritime-terrestrial public domain."

So far, it is mainly due to the nature of the Spanish coastline that the first wind farms have not already been built. These are particularly suitable for floating wind farms, as they are too deep for fixed wind farms. As the development of this technology has made significant progress in recent years, Spain now wants to finally take off in this industry segment and utilise the technology, which was previously only produced for the use abroad, on the domestic market. The clock is ticking.