Spain – Ørsted has formed four partnerships to pursue early-stage solar and onshore wind projects in Spain’s future grid auctions, with long-term market objectives of multi-GW.
By acquiring Brookfield Renewable Ireland’s onshore wind platform in 2021, Ørsted entered the European onshore market, from where it is building high-potential projects that will contribute to the Group’s growth aspirations of approx. 17.5 GW onshore renewable capacity by 2030. Ørsted is building an onshore business in Spain – one of Europe’s largest renewables markets – by forging four partnerships with Glide Energy, Rolwind, ARBA Energas Renovables, and Ereda, which will assist project development and services, respectively.
Renewable goals
The Spanish government has set a goal of reaching 70% renewable energy by 2030, with a goal of 100% renewable energy by 2050. By 2030, Spain intends to build 39 GW of solar PV, 50 GW of onshore wind, 3 GW of floating offshore wind, and 40-60 MW of various types of marine energy, making it a clear leader in the green energy transition and a desirable market for entrepreneurs.
All of Ørsted’s new partners have substantial greenfield development expertise, and together they offer a complementing regional footprint. The partnerships’ short-term goal is to create onshore wind and solar PV projects in Spain that will allow Ørsted to bid for rights to develop a multi-GW solar and wind energy pipeline across Spain in the future Spanish grid auctions, which are slated to take place in mid-2022. Longer-term plans include developing large-scale onshore wind, solar PV, and storage projects that can be sold through government auctions or the burgeoning market for corporate power purchase agreements.
The onshore collaborations come after rsted said in April 2022 that it will investigate floating offshore wind prospects in Spain. The company will be able to provide a full suite of solutions to corporate and governmental customers because to its planned presence across technologies.