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Hyperion Renewables today announced a partnership with Corio Generation "to explore opportunities in Portugal in anticipation of the country's first offshore wind auctions."

The Portuguese company has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Australian-owned Macquarie company "to explore opportunities to develop and build offshore wind projects in Portugal."

"This partnership combines Corio's extensive knowledge in preparing auctions and evaluating offshore areas, with Hyperion's long experience in developing and managing renewable energy projects in Portugal," according to the statement released today.

It should be recalled that the Portuguese government aims to put in place 10 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030.

Corio Generation, owned by Macquarie Asset Management's Green Investment Group, has a portfolio of 30 gigawatts in Europe, Asia and the Americas.

"Corio's floating wind portfolio includes the 1.5 GW Grey Whale project in South Korea, one of the largest floating offshore wind farms in the world. Additionally, the company is developing several floating offshore projects in Europe, including in France, the UK and Norway," the statement read.

Hyperion Renewables has developed 640 MW of projects across the Iberian Peninsula since 2006 and has a pipeline of 3.4 GW in solar, wind, green hydrogen and battery projects, including 180 MW of solar PV projects under construction.

"This partnership with Corio is a very important milestone in our growth strategy, opening up the offshore wind market for Hyperion in partnership with Corio, one of the best partners worldwide for floating offshore wind. We will use our complementary capabilities to maximize the probability of having a winning participation in the auctions. On the one hand, Hyperion's experience and track record in renewable energy ??in the Iberian Peninsula, and on the other hand, Corio's unrivalled know-how in offshore wind energy, particularly in the floating technology that is critical to Portugal," Aytea Amandi, CEO of Hyperion Renewables, said in a statement.

Offshore wind is generating a lot of interest in the Portuguese offshore. Danes, Norwegians, Spaniards and now Australians have already shown interest in the procedure.

The offshore auction that is being prepared by several public entities and the Government will take place in the last quarter of this year with four lots distributed in the north, center and south for a total of two gigawatts (500 megawatts per lot).

The first areas to go ahead will be Viana do Castelo, Figueira da Foz (two lots) and Sines (still to be confirmed).

The revelation was made last week by the director-general of the Directorate-General of Maritime Resources (DGRM) during a presentation at the conference of the Portuguese Renewable Energy Association (APREN).

According to the presentation, the planned areas occupy a total area of 3,400 km2, 6% of the continent's territorial sea, and 0.71% of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Remember that the working group for the planning and operation of generating plants based on renewable energy sources of ocean origin or location has until May 31 to deliver its report. Based on these conclusions the Government will define the auction rules.

These 10 gigawatts of offshore wind will require 30 to 40 billion Euros of investment, the largest slice of the total 60 billion Euros planned in investments in the energy sector by 2030.

Of the eight areas currently planned by the government, two are for installing fixed technology: the wind turbine bases are fixed offshore, in areas where the maximum depth reaches 50 meters: Matosinhos (181 km2 to install 995 megawatts) and the port jurisdiction area of the port of Sines (10 km2 to install 53 megawatts). These two areas have a total of 191 km2 to install more than a thousand megawatts.

Next are the six areas to install floating power plants in places where depths vary between 75 meters and 200 meters) ranging from Viana do Castelo to Sines for a total of 3,200 km2 for a power of 10 gigawatts. To wit: Viana do Castelo (663 km2 for two gigawatts), Leixões (463 km2 for 1.5 gigawatts), Figueira da Foz (1,238 for 4 gigawatts), Ericeira (256 km2) and Sintra/Cascais (84 km2) for 1 gigawatt, and Sines (499 km2 for 1.5 gigawatts).

And how far away are these areas from land? Viana do Castelo (18.9 kms), Leixões (37.5 kms), Figueira da Foz (35 kms), Ericeira (10.5 kms), Sintra/Cascais (10.6 kms), Sines northern area (16.5), Sines southern area (15.5 kms), Matosinhos (3.5 kms), Sines port jurisdiction area (1.8 kms).