Ignacio Galán meets with the British Prime Minister and confirms Iberdrola's commitment to offshore wind in the UK
Ignacio Galán, Chairman of Iberdrola, was received at Downing Street by the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, with whom he had the opportunity to discuss the current situation of the energy sector and the company's commitment to the country. The company has signed one of the largest contracts in its history for the construction of 95 Siemens Gamesa wind turbines for the East Anglia Three offshore wind farm, the second largest in the world. This was announced by Ignacio Galán during his speech at the Aurora Forum at Oxford University.
The 95 turbines, of 14.7 MW each, will have a combined renewable capacity of 1,400 MW, enough to power 1.3 million British homes. "The size and ambition of this project is a further demonstration of Iberdrola's commitment to decarbonisation and energy security around the world, through large renewable infrastructure such as the East Anglia Three offshore wind farm, capable of generating economic activity throughout its supply chain and creating thousands of jobs," said Iberdrola Chairman Ignacio Galán.
"This clearly demonstrates our drive and determination for the transition towards a clean, efficient and self-sufficient energy model, capable of responding to today's main challenges", reiterated Galán.
East Anglia Three is being built in the southern North Sea, 69 km from Great Yarmouth. The project will create more than 2,300 jobs during the two years of construction and more than 100 in operation and maintenance throughout the life of the wind farm. The UK subsidiary has already signed contracts worth almost £70 million with UK companies for East Anglia Three and it is estimated that the company will invest almost €2.3 billion - £2 billion - in the UK to support the construction and operation of East Anglia over the lifetime of the project.
East Anglia Three will join Iberdrola's six offshore wind farms already in operation or under construction. The group has already commissioned the West of Duddon Sands facility (195 MW) in the Irish Sea; Wikinger (350 MW) in German waters of the Baltic Sea; and East Anglia ONE.
The company also has three other large offshore facilities currently under construction. In France, it is making progress on the installation of what will be its first large offshore wind farm in this country, Saint-Brieuc, which, with almost 500 MW of capacity and an investment of 2,500 euros, will generate enough clean energy to meet the electricity consumption of 835,000 people, once it enters into operation in 2023.
In the United States, Iberdrola is building what will be the country's first commercial-scale wind farm, Vineyard Wind 1 (806 MW), off the coast of the state of Massachusetts, with an investment of around 2,500 million euros. This facility will be able to meet the energy needs of more than 400,000 homes and will prevent the emission of more than 1.6 million tonnes of CO2 per year.
In Germany, the group has started to build its second major offshore wind initiative in the country, after Wikinger. The 476 MW wind farm, called Baltic Eagle, will be able to meet the demand of 475,000 households and avoid the emission of almost one million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere each year. The company also plans to develop a third marine project in this area: Windanker (300 MW). Together, the three renewable facilities will give rise to the largest offshore wind complex in the Baltic Sea, with a total installed capacity of 1,100 MW and a combined investment of approximately 3.5 billion euros.
