Equinor and Naturgy team up to explore offshore wind development in Spain
Equinor and Naturgy partner up and enter a development agreement prior to Spain’s first upcoming offshore wind auction off the coast of the Canary Islands, according to Equinor's release.
The Spanish government aims to transform its energy mix and plans to develop up to 3 GW offshore wind by 2030. The first Spanish offshore wind auction is expected to be in the Canary region in 2023 and here Equinor and Naturgy are jointly assessing the opportunity to develop and construct a floating offshore wind project.
The cooperation is in line with the two companies’ joint ambition of utilizing their complementary capabilities to develop renewables in Spain, starting with commercial floating wind projects. With more than 90% of the Spanish offshore wind areas being deep waters, Spain has an exciting opportunity to spearhead the next wave of floating offshore wind in Europe.
The Spanish energy company will contribute with its experience from onshore wind in Spain and Equinor with its proven capabilities in floating offshore wind technology and development.
Spain plays a key role in the supply chain for offshore wind in the rest of Europe and Equinor has a long history of working together with the Spanish offshore supply industry. Key components like floating substructure, the tower, and the mooring at Equinor’s Hywind Scotland floating wind farm were produced in Spain.
Naturgy is a multinational energy group with growing renewable portfolio including 2 GW of existing installed onshore wind in Spain. The company is committed to the development of renewable energies and wants to be part of the rising offshore wind industry. The company brings proven experience in onshore wind development, construction, and operation, as well as extensive knowledge of the Spanish market to the partnership.
Equinor is developing as a broad energy company, building a material position in renewable energy. The company is developing offshore wind clusters in the UK, the US Northeast and in the Baltic Sea and is positioned for future floating wind options in several geographies, including Europe and Asia where it is developing a pipeline of floating offshore wind projects in South Korea. Equinor is the world’s leading floating offshore wind developer, operating the world’s first floating wind farm, Hywind Scotland (30MW) and soon Hywind Tampen (88 MW) which when in operations Q3 2022 will be the world’s largest floating offshore wind farm.
