Naturgy redoubles its commitment to renewables in Spain

Naturgy is immersed in the construction of some thirty wind farms and photovoltaic plants in Spain, thanks to an investment of 528 million euros. The first 10 projects are expected to come into operation before the end of the year, specifically those located in Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura, Catalonia and the Canary Islands. The rest, also located in Galicia and Murcia, will be completed over the next few months. All of them will add 683 megawatts of new power to the Spanish renewable energy park. These facilities are in addition to two others in Castilla y León, which have already come into operation this year.

The new renewable generation capacity will generate around 1,600 GWh/year of electricity, equivalent to the consumption of more than 450,000 homes, and will prevent the emission of more than one million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Offshore wind power in the Canary Islands

Likewise, Naturgy and the Norwegian company Equinor are working together on the development of the Floating Offshore Wind Canarias (FOWCA) project, with which they want to opt for the installation of more than 200 MW of floating offshore wind power in the maritime space of the east of Gran Canaria.

The FOWCA project, which would be connected to Red Eléctrica Española's Barranco de Tirajana substation, will be developed with semi-submersible floating platform technology which, among other advantages, allows the structures to be installed further away from the coast.

According to the study commissioned to the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, it is estimated that the project could generate more than 2,500 jobs in all its phases, including direct, indirect and induced jobs.

Spain's first offshore wind auction is expected to take place in the Canary Islands, as the region offers excellent wind conditions. In addition, the islands have a shipyard industry that could transform its activity from oil platforms to offshore renewable energy platforms, as part of the manufacturing and assembly could be carried out in local shipyards.

Equinor and Naturgy have signed an agreement to work together to analyze opportunities for the development of offshore wind energy in Spain. Both companies intend to take advantage of their complementary capabilities to develop this technology, which has great potential in Spanish waters.

In this alliance, the Spanish energy company will contribute its experience in the development of onshore wind power and the Norwegian company will contribute its proven capabilities in floating offshore technology.

The 'Roadmap for offshore wind and offshore energy' approved by the Spanish government foresees the development of up to 3 GW of offshore wind power by 2030, and is currently working on the definition of the Maritime Space Management Plans (POEM), the previous step to be able to develop the capacity auctions.

Spain plays a key role in the offshore wind supply chain in the rest of Europe and Equinor has a long history of collaboration with the Spanish industry.

Key components such as the floating substructure, tower and mooring system for Equinor's Hywind Scotland floating wind farm were manufactured in Spain.

Naturgy is strongly committed to the development of renewable energies and plans to reach 14 GW of installed capacity by 2025, up from the current 5.2 GW. The company is pursuing its strategy of developing a renewable portfolio both domestically and internationally, focusing on stable geographies and projects in the early stages of development.