A joint venture between BlueFloat Energy and SENER is developing Mar de Ágata, one of the first floating offshore wind farms in Andalusia, which will be located in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of Almería, between the municipalities of Níjar and Carboneras in Spain.
This wind farm will have an installed capacity of 300 MW (corresponding to 28% of the current electricity consumption in the province of Almería). During the useful life of the park, estimated at 30 years, Mar de Ágata will allow savings of 12 million tons of CO2.
Thanks to Mar de Ágata, the installed wind capacity in the province of Almería would increase by 59%, and the total wind capacity in Andalusia would grow by 8.6%. The wind farm will be equipped with 20 floating offshore wind turbines, 15 MW each. The maximum estimated height of each wind turbine will be 261 meters above sea level, which will be located more than 15 kilometers away from the main viewpoints of Cabo de Gata (La Amatista and La Isleta del Moro).
The planned evacuation point, the SE Litoral, in the municipality of Carboneras, will be located less than 10 kilometers from the site of the wind farm, so the project does not contemplate the development of an offshore electrical substation.
The identification of the site for the project has been carried out based on a rigorous analysis of the technical and environmental conditions: wind resource, availability of electrical connections with capacity, environmentally protected areas and species, fishing, depths, geomorphology of the seabed, waves, maritime traffic, air navigation and easements of the Ministry of Defense.
Moreover, the project was born with the idea of taking advantage of possible synergies with other local projects, and especially with the green hydrogen plant promoted by Caldererías Indálicas. This plant will be executed in two different phases, with a green hydrogen production capacity of up to 20 tons/day. It could cover part of its electricity demand through the energy produced by the offshore wind farm, thus ensuring the green origin of hydrogen production. In return, Mar de Ágata would take advantage of the technical capabilities and facilities of Caldererías Indálicas to manufacture locally part of the floating structures.
Image: Photo by Theodor Vasile on Unsplash
