Iberdrola Renewables and AREVA Join to Bid for French Offshore Wind Projects

IBERDROLA RENOVABLES and the French company AREVA have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly bid on two zones for offshore wind power development off the French coast.

Both companies have agreed to bid for two of the five areas that the French government has offered for competitive tender in a first phase in this country, totalling 3,000 megawatts (MW). The two zones would have a combined power of between 1.000 and 1.500 MW.

These are two of the areas offering the best conditions in the world for this type of projects, and IBERDROLA RENOVABLES has been conducting wind and feasibility studies for offshore projects in these regions for some years.

Under the agreement between both companies, if they are awarded these projects, AREVA will be the exclusive supplier of the turbines for the wind farms, while IBERDROLA RENOVABLES will be responsible for the start-up and operation of the facilities.

The French government recently announced its objective of reaching 6,000 MW in offshore energy by 2020, making France one of the most attractive markets for developing this type of energy.

Commitment to offshore wind power

IBERDROLA RENOVABLES is committed to the expansion of offshore wind power as one of the bases of its future business and seeks to lead the future development of this technology, which is considered a second renewable-energy revolution. Indeed, this type of energy will be one of the most important technological commitments in the history of the IBERDROLA Group.

The Company has set up an Offshore Business Division based in Scotland to achieve this aim. The department will oversee the gradual implementation of the offshore wind facilities in its project portfolio, which already amounts to more than 10,000 MW around the world.

The Company, through its UK subsidiary ScottishPower Renewables, has already begun the development of its first offshore project, West of Duddon Sands in the Irish Sea. together with the Danish company Dong.

West of Duddon Sands will have a total installed capacity of 389 MW, enough to meet the electricity needs of 300,000 British homes. It will be one of the biggest offshore facilities in the world when it begins operations within three years. Together with Dong, it has completed project development and awarded Siemens a turbine supply contract worth around €700 million.

The Company’s projects in the medium term include the East Anglia Array, to be developed in English waters jointly with the Swedish company Vattenfall. It is one of the biggest offshore wind farms in the world, with an installed capacity of 7,200 MW. Last year this project received approval from the National Grid, the operator of the British electric power network, to connect to the mainland power grid. This has been the most important authorisation for connection received by the IBERDROLA Group in its history.

Other developments in Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom amount to an additional 2,500 MW. They include Wikinger, the wind farm located in German waters in the Baltic Sea, with a capacity of 400 MW, and Argyll Array, in the United Kingdom, whose offshore facility has a potential capacity of between 500 MW and 1,800 MW.

IBERDROLA RENOVABLES is present in 23 countries. It was the company that commissioned most renewable energy capacity in the world in 2010, at 1,780 MW. As a result, it is a world leader(*)(*) See explanation in its sector, where it is the biggest operator, both in terms of installed capacity, with 12,834 MW at the close of the first quarter of 2011, and production, at 7,636 million KWh generated in the first three months of this year.

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Source: iberdrolarenovables, June 29, 2011