Ocean Winds, an EDP Renewables and ENGIE joint venture specializing in offshore wind energy generation, and Spain’s DISA Group, a renewable electricity generator in the Canary Islands, are developing offshore wind farms in the Canary Islands.
Their floating wind power technology projects will help reach the targets set out in Spain’s Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition to double the share of renewable energy of final energy consumption to 42% by 2030. The Canary Islands’ rate currently only stands at 4%, according to information taken from the Canary Islands Energy Yearbook 2019. In the Canary Islands, the depth of the waters away from the coast makes it necessary to use floating wind technology.
The manufacture, installation and maintenance of offshore wind farms is estimated to generate up to 3,700 direct and indirect jobs in strategic sectors such as shipyards, auxiliary workshops, ports and various other service industries.
Ocean Winds and DISA will contribute to a progressive reduction in the use of fossil fuels in electricity generation in the Canary Islands. Offshore wind energy from the jointly promoted projects would double the current share of renewable energy, as well as reduce the cost of electricity generation on the islands.
Ocean Winds recently developed Windfloat Atlantic, located 20 km off the coast of Viana do Castelo in Portugal. This is the first semi-submersible floating wind farm in the world, which came online last year. The company has a total of 1.5 GW under construction and 4 GW in advanced development.
