A Coruña Port opens a key year for offshore wind power aiming to provide land to factories
Eight companies have asked to install plants on vacant land in Punta Langosteira for projects related to wind turbines, and the Port Authority wants to have the housing project ready by 2025
Green economy is the Port Authority's great bet for future. Under the slogan A Coruña Green Port, it has signed agreements and promoted several industrial initiatives linked to clean energy in the outer port of Punta Langosteira: from Inditex wind turbines to plants for synthesized ammonia with renewable sources. But perhaps the most innovative branch is offshore wind power, that is, the construction of wind turbines installed in the sea. Eight companies (Ferrovial, Navantia, Acciona, Saitec, Esteyco, Amper, Gri Renewable and Cobra) have requested land to build factories related to this technology, and the Port has reserved for them some 600,000 meters that are now empty. This year, according to sources from the Port Authority, the aim is to have the project for urbanisation the land and to “organise”, that is, to define where each plant will be.
The Port has not committed to dates, but it indicates that “possibly” in 2025 the urbanisation project will be finalised, and “in parallel”, the distribution of the properties, which is “pending closure with the companies”. Among the projects is the request from Moncobra, which was in charge of building the Scottish Kicardine offshore wind farm, to develop and assemble “large components” for this industry in A Coruña. Or the initiative of the Saitc group, which has designed its own floating platform for offshore wind turbines, called Sath, to manufacture and assemble this type of products.
The outer port has favourable conditions for this type of industry due to its wide availability of land and the dock great depth. In addition, there are several projects to install floating wind turbines on the Coruña coast: Galwind, from Cobra group, San Brandán, from Iberdrola, and Nordés, from Bluefloat and Sener; the latter case, it was proposed that energy arrive on land through Sabón.
Before the plants are put into operation, investments will be necessary, but the Port could opt for aid from the Ministry of Ecological Transition to adapt the port infrastructure to the deployment of offshore wind power. Langosteira, as explained to this newspaper by the director of Energy of the Technological Institute of Galicia (ITG), Santiago Rodríguez, is "key" to floating wind power development.
Inditex and green ammonia
Although it does not yet have authorization, Xunta de Galicia, the Port and Red Eléctrica plan to create an experimental wind platform in front of Punta Langosteira, although it does not yet have environmental authorization. And, already on the grounds of the outer port, Inditex wants to install three wind turbines at Punta Langosteira, with a combined power of around 20 megawatts. They would supply the port and the multinational's factories.
(Source: La Opinión A Coruña)