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Iberdrola has finalised the procurement process for Baltic Eagle with the award of the project’s last key contract, the manufacturing of offshore foundations, to EEW SPC and Windar.

German company EEW SPC will deliver 50 monopiles while Spanish company Windar will fabricate the same number of transition pieces, which links the turbine towers to the foundations. Both companies have extensive experience in the offshore wind sector, having supplied components and equipment to numerous projects across Europe.

The monopiles will be fabricated at EEW’s mega-factory in Rostock, located by the Baltic Sea. Grouped into deep and shallow clusters, the monopiles are between 9m and 8.75m in diameter and their range in length varies from 75 to 90 meters, depending on the water depth for each wind turbine position. The heaviest monopile is 1,402 tonnes and EEW SPC will be processing about 64,600 tonnes of steel for this order, starting in January 2022 and running through to January 2023. Load out will begin in April 2023 and the installation campaign is scheduled to last approximately six weeks.

The main construction activities for the transition pieces will be carried out in Windar´s shipyard located in Avilés. This manufacturing process will involve some 30 Windar suppliers in the North of Spain, including steel production, components, equipment, testing and auxiliary machinery companies. The contract will create 800 jobs and 1.3 million man-hours. Fabrication works will begin in October 2021 and will run through to December 2022, with load out planned for the beginning of 2023.

Iris Stempfle, Country Manager for Iberdrola in Germany, said: “The manufacturing phase of Baltic Eagle will involve multinational companies with facilities in five European countries, including Germany, Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium. We are very pleased that Iberdrola’s investments are making an important contribution to Europe’s green recovery. In addition to a remarkable job creation during construction, we plan to increase staff at our O&M base in the port of Sassnitz–Mukran, in the island of Rügen, to serve Iberdrola’s Baltic Sea Hub while fostering the share of local added value.”

With a production capacity of 476 MW, the Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm will supply renewable energy to 475,000 households, while saving nearly one million tons of CO₂ emissions each year. It is scheduled to be fully operational by the end of 2024.

Offshore wind developments in the Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea holds an incredible potential of 93,000 MW for offshore wind in Europe. Alongside Germany, several countries, such as Poland, Sweden and Estonia are exploring new opportunities for offshore wind developments. By 2024, Iberdrola’s Baltic Sea Hub will comprise 826 MW (Wikinger with 350 MW in operation since 2017 and Baltic Eagle with 476 MW) and will act as a centre for offshore and onshore services, as well as providing local content for Iberdrola's projects in the Germany-Poland-Sweden axis.  In the German Baltic Sea alone, Iberdrola is planning to increase installed capacity to more than 1,1 GW by end of 2026.

Iberdrola`s current offshore wind portfolio includes projects in the German Baltic Sea (Wikinger and Baltic Eagle), in the North Sea (East Anglia ONE and East Anglia Hub), the Irish Sea (West of Duddon Sands), the coast of Massachusetts (Vineyard Wind) and France (Saint Brieuc).

The significant expansion of the offshore wind pipeline over the past twelve months -20,000 MW at the end of the first quarter of 2021- bolstered by new growth markets with high potential, such as Japan, Poland, Sweden and Ireland, will enable the group to have 12,000 MW offshore wind in operation by 2030.

Green investments to promote economic recovery

Iberdrola believes that the energy transition can act as a key driving force in the transformation of industry, a green economic recovery and job creation.

With this focus Iberdrola has launched a major €75 billion investment plan for the 2020-2025 period, with the aim of doubling its renewable capacity and taking advantage of the opportunities created by the energy revolution in the world's major economies.

After twenty years driving the energy transition, with investments of over €120 billion, Iberdrola is a leader in renewable energy, with an installed capacity of more than 33 GW, making its generation fleet one of the cleanest in the energy industry.

With CO₂/kWh emissions already two thirds lower than the European average, the investment strategy in clean energy and networks will lead Iberdrola to become carbon neutral in Europe by 2030.