Five companies are planning offshore wind farms in the Vigo area
The Ministry for Ecological Transition has registered 15 proposals to install floating structures
The French company Qair Renovables wants to build an offshore wind farm off the Rías Baixas. The project, called Roleira and with a capacity of 594 megawatts (MW), was registered this week with the Ministry for Ecological Transition for environmental assessment. Qair Renewables Ibérica is the promoter of this initiative, and, alltogether, there are already five offshore investments - in the open sea - planned on the southwestern coast of the province - Baixo Miño area and about 50 kilometres from the Cíes Islands. There are 15 projects around Galicia. Capital Energy is promoting Volanteiro, a park off the coast of Oia, Rosal and A Guarda with a capacity of 510 MW through the installation of 15 MW floating turbines with a semi-submersible concrete platform.
Off the coast of Baixo Miño is also Juan Sebastian Elcano project by the company Iberblue Wind, which will use innovative floating offshore wind technology to produce carbon-free electricity. The company has registered another in Viana do Castelo.
50 kilometres off the coast of Vigo, Ferrovial Infraestructuras Energéticas wants to build a park called Celta II with a capacity of 510 megawatts. It would be equipped with 34 wind turbines and would occupy an area of almost 90 square kilometres.
Repsol is one of the major offshore wind power promoters of offshore in Galicia, where it has planned up to four parks. One of them is Atlántico 1 and would be located on the southwest coast, with a geographical scope that includes the municipalities of Gondomar, A Guarda, Oia, O Porriño, O Rosal, Tomiño and Tui together with the evacuation infrastructure.
Capital Energy, Iberdrola, Invenergy Renewables Europe, Repsol, Abei Energy and Parque Nordés are other companies that have submitted their proposals to the Ministry of Ecological Transition for floating offshore wind farms in Galicia, on the coasts of A Coruña and Lugo.
All these initiatives are pending regulation of their possible installation, as well as the publication of the Maritime Space Management Plans (POEM).
Portugal launched WindFloat Atlantic Park last year, off the coast of Viana do Castelo, which is the first floating offshore wind farm in continental Europe. This floating technology is the challenge for this sector in Galicia and Spain, which, due to the characteristics of their coasts, cannot have wind turbines anchored to the seabed due to the depth of the waters.
(Source: Atlántico Diario)