IberBlue Reveals Second Floating Wind Farm Project Offshore Andalusia

May 16, 2023, by Adnan Durakovic

IberBlue Wind, a joint venture between Simply Blue Group, Proes Consultores, and FF New Energy Ventures, has announced a second floating offshore wind project on the Spanish Southern coast of Andalusia.

Illustration; Image source: IberBlue Wind

The project is called La Pinta in tribute to one of the three caravels used by Christopher Columbus on his first trip to America.

It will be located off the coasts of Granada and Almeria and will cover an area of around 316 square kilometres.

La Pinta will have an installed capacity of around 990 MW produced by up to 55 turbines of 18 MW each, and it will be located between 15 and 35 ilometres from the coast. When operational, the wind farm will have the capacity to supply energy to over 670,000 homes, the developer said.

IberBlue has submitted the Initial Project Document (IPD), which includes its technical characteristics, to Spain’s Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO).

The global investment required for the construction and maintenance of the wind farm is expected to exceed EUR 2.5 billion and generate over 3,300 jobs.

IberBlue Wind said that all of its projects are committed to the development of coastal communities and close collaboration with stakeholders, including civil society, coastal communities, and groups related to the use of the sea. The company has already established contacts with the Junta de Andalucía (regional government), town halls, associations, and representative bodies of the area, in order for the farms to be satisfactorily integrated into the environment.

Julio Vera, Stakeholder Engagement & Policy Director of IberBlue Wind, said: ”Andalusia is a key area for offshore wind development in Spain. It has a great wind resource, good infrastructure, and potential capacity to become a benchmark for this kind of project. The coasts of Granada and Almeria have favourable conditions for offshore wind farms, although it will be necessary to reinforce the electricity network in the surrounding area to take all the energy generated.”

La Pinta is the second offshore wind farm IberBlue Wind is developing in Andalusia. Last November, the joint venture announced its Nao Victoria project in the Alboran Sea, off the coasts of Malaga and Cadiz. This wind farm will also have an installed capacity of around 990 MW.

Three other projects already proposed to the authorities are Botafogo, the first offshore wind farm in Portugal off the coast of Figueira da Foz, and, more recently, the first cross-border offshore wind projects off Spain and Portugal called Juan Sebastián Elcano and Creoula. They have a combined installed capacity of around 1.96 GW.