Iberdrola raring to bid in next offshore wind auctions in France

Spanish energy giant Iberdrola is very interested in participating in future offshore wind capacity auctions in France, the company’s CEO and Chairman Ignacio Galán, said.

This comes as Iberdrola announced it will invest between €3 billion and €4 billion in renewable energy projects in France over the next four years, both in onshore and offshore wind, as well as solar.

“We are already investing €2.4 billion in the development of the Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm,” Galán said.

Iberdrola currently makes annual procurement from French companies valued at around EUR 1 billion and the development of the Saint-Brieuc project alone is expected to lead to the creation of more than 1,000 new jobs.

Galán also gave a positive assessment of France’s energy planning: the multi-annual energy programme (PPE), saying that it will “lead to a very significant reduction in emissions and pollution; create jobs; allow progress to be made in energy independence; generate a new industry of the future capable of innovating and exporting; and achieve much more competitive energy prices.”

In order to boost this process of decarbonising the economy through electrification,“clear and attractive regulation is needed, as well as speeding up the permitting process,” said Galán.

As previously reported, France’s PPE calls for 8.75 GW of offshore wind capacity to be put out to tender by 2028, with the first 1 GW auction round expected to take place this year.

Last week, Iberdrola, through its subsidiary Ailes Marines, reached a final investment decision for the 496 MW Saint-Brieuc offshore wind project.

The construction of the wind farm is scheduled to begin in 2021 and the wind farm is expected to be fully operational in 2023.