Wind News

Wednesday 03 March 2010

ScottishPower Renewables, a subsidiary of Iberdrola, was awarded rights to develop the East Anglia Round 3 zone

Global renewable energy firm Iberdrola Renovables has created an offshore wind division to be headquartered in Glasgow which will develop a portfolio of projects totaling around 10,000MW.

The new division will be incorporated into ScottishPower Renewables, Iberdrola's UK business unit, and will be headed by its director, Keith Anderson.

It will have three departments including operations and maintenance, business development and commercial.

Iberdrola, together with Vattenfall, will be developing a 7,200MW offshore wind farm in the East Anglia Array, located in the North Sea off the coast of Norfolk, after it was awarded the rights to the Norfolk Bank zone in January under The Crown Estate's Round 3 offshore licensing programme (see this NewEnergyFocus.com story). Constriction is due to commence in 2015 and this project is one of those to benefit from the new division.

In addition, Iberdrola has other offshore wind projects in Europe - Germany, Spain and the UK - comprising an additional 2,500MW. This includes 1,700MW in the UK, made up of a two-thirds stake in the 500MW West of Duddon Sands project, which will begin construction in 2012, and the development rights to a site west of Argyll and the island of Tiree, which it claimed could generate anywhere between 500MW to 1800MW of electricity.

In Spain, Iberdrola Renovables has applied to place zones under reserve for feasibility studies and will be seeking permits for six projects off the coasts of Cádiz, Castellón and Huelva.

Investments

Iberdrola expects to invest €9 billion (£8.2 billion) in renewables generation between 2010-2012 to accelerate its international expansion and consolidate its position as "world leader" in wind energy.

It plans to invest €4.9 billion (£4.5 billion) in the United States, €1.9 billion (£1.7 billion) in the UK, €1 billion (£908 million) in Spain and €1.2 billion (£1.1 billion) in the rest of the world.

This year, Iberdrola Renovables expects to maintain its investments and increase operating profit by 20% as a result of an additional 1,750MW in installed capacity to reach a total of 12,500MW. The company currently has 937 MW under construction around the world.

Last month, UK based subsidiary of Iberdrola, ScottishPower Renewables, announced that it had nearly doubled wind output in 2009 (see this NewEnergyFocus.com story).