Marine Wind Forum is a platform that aims to promote offshore wind projects on the Spanish coast as a strategic sector and driver of economic recovery in Spain, which provides economic and social benefit for the regions where they are installed and for the country.
This initiative, with a social and participatory vocation, adds positions, seeks meeting points and debate and synergies to advance in the development of offshore wind in our country.
The deployment of offshore wind power will contribute to achieving the energy and climate objectives in Spain, meaning a positive macroeconomic impact derived from the creation of qualified employment, increased exports and growth of the national GDP.
Today we launch the ‘Manifesto for the development of offshore wind power in Spain’ with more than 170 signatories representing the main players in the development of offshore wind power in Spain.
The Offshore Wind Forum was born to make society and representatives of economic and industrial activities aware of the need for offshore wind farms in Spain as a strategic industrial sector and driver of economic recovery in Spain and industry in coastal regions. This initiative, coordinated by the Wind Energy Business Association (AEE) is a meeting point between sectors linked to offshore wind energy, institutions, experts, associations, unions, academia and society.
Collaboration between the actors related to offshore wind development is essential to meet the challenges of offshore wind power in Spain, where the Roadmap for the Development of Offshore Wind Power and Energies from the Sea, approved in December 2021, contemplates some objectives installation of floating wind power of 3 GW by 2030, and highlights offshore wind as a sector with great potential to contribute to the Just Transition.
This challenge is achievable as long as the relevant regulation is streamlined and specific auctions are called. “For the development of offshore wind power in Spain we need three key pieces such as the approval of the Marine Space Management Plans (POEM), with spaces allocated for floating parks at distances from the coast and reasonable depths that make them economically viable. ; the updating of the existing regulation dating from 2007 for the processing of facilities; and a calendar and a first auction call that assigns a remuneration regime to the wind farms, which we hope can be held at the beginning of 2023. As a basis for everything, it is essential to work with rigor, dialogue, consensus, with balance and seeking understanding between all the parties involved”, indicates Juan Virgilio Márquez, CEO of AEE.
According to the forecasts of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), in order to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement, the total offshore wind power needed worldwide must be 228 GW in 2030 and 1,000 GW in 2050. Europe, the Strategy on Marine Renewable Energies of the European Commission foresees a deployment in 2030 of up to 60 GW and 300 GW in 2050. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), offshore wind will account for half of wind generation in Europe in 2040.
A manifesto for the development of offshore wind energy
The Offshore Wind Forum, as its first initiative, launches the ‘Manifesto for the development of offshore wind power in Spain’, which already has more than 170 signatures, with the aim of promoting the development of offshore wind power in Spain and conveying the need to speed up the development of the regulatory framework so that Spain maintains its world leadership position in floating offshore wind power.
The more than 170 firms represent the main players in the development of offshore wind power in Spain: manufacturers, developers, companies in the value chain, unions, shipyards, ports and the naval sector, professional associations, universities, technology and R&D centers +i, associations, clusters and professionals. Some 100,000 jobs support the promotion of offshore wind power.
The Manifesto’s priority objective is to promote the establishment of a clear, predictable, stable and transparent framework, with a multi-year calendar of competitive bidding processes that includes the holding of the first offshore wind auction in 2022. Investors, the industry and, In general, the entire value chain needs greater visibility on the marine areas that are the object of competition, the volumes of wind power to be developed and their estimated dates. An offshore wind farm has an estimated installation period of 6 years.
The manifesto presents the reasons why it is necessary to commit to the development of offshore wind power in Spain, the commitments of the sector and the needs so that it is possible to take advantage of this opportunity and contribute to meeting the decarbonisation objectives.
In Spain there is a strong industrial fabric focused on the development of this technology, with a marked export nature, stemming from the experience acquired during more than 20 years of implementation of onshore wind power and synergies with other sectors, such as shipbuilding and shipyards, the auxiliary maritime industry and port management, civil engineering and consulting, the construction industry, as well as the metal industry, etc.
Spain is a leader in R&D&i and technological development of offshore wind power, being the country that currently has the largest number of patents for floating solutions. In addition, of the 13 floating foundation solutions that have been installed in the world today, 11 have been manufactured by Spanish companies.
Spain has a network of research centres, universities and test platforms that have spent more than 15 years developing studies and technologies already applied to international projects and which, with the development of offshore wind power in Spain, will give even greater impetus to the national sector industry and research. The set of Singular Scientific and Technical Infrastructures ICTS-MARHIS constitutes a unique network of research centers in marine technologies in the world.
Spain has a powerful network of ports (due to its insular geography) as articulation poles for industrial activity associated with offshore wind farms, which can improve their capacities and generate greater economic activity.
We have the complete value chain of the offshore wind sector and we have the opportunity to turn Spain into an industrial and technological development hub, especially for floating offshore wind, a technology made in Spain.
The ‘Manifesto for the development of offshore wind power in Spain’ can be consulted on the website of the Offshore Wind Forum (www.foroeolicomarino.org). From this portal, all interested companies, institutions or individuals can join this campaign by signing the Manifesto.
