News

Iberdrola and Navantia held an event today at Navantia's shipyard in Fene to mark the delivery of the first 4 ‘jacket’ foundations for the East Anglia One offshore wind farm, which have been built at the Fene shipyard by the consortium set up by Navantia and Windar.

The event was attended by the President of the Xunta de Galicia regional government, Alberto Nuñez Feijóo; the Chairman of Iberdrola, Ignacio S. Galán, and the Chairman of Navantia, Esteban García Vilasánchez, as well as other dignitaries.

The delivery of the remaining components will continue throughout the coming months, successfully completing the contract signed in December 2016 by the two companies. The contract consists of the construction and delivery by barge of 42 jacket-type structures and 126 piles from the Fene shipyard and Windar’s facilities in Avilés.

The project is the second between Navantia and Iberdrola following the success of Wikinger and it secures jobs at the respective facilities of both Navantia and Windar as it will generate a total of 1,000,000 work hours with the creation of an average 800 jobs, peaking with the employment of 1,300 people. In addition, as with the Wikinger project, many local firms are benefiting from this contract.

The East Anglia ONE project by Iberdrola's British subsidiary, Scottish Power, will represent the largest offshore wind farm in the world, occupying an area equal to 30,000 football pitches, and supplying electricity to half a million homes. When it goes into operation in 2020 on the SE coast of England, its 102 wind turbines will supply up to 714 megawatts (MW) of clean energy.

During the event, the two Chairmen expressed their satisfaction with the work carried out and the compliance with the contract, in terms of both quality and deadlines.

Iberdrola's chairman, Ignacio S. Galán, pointed out that “with this new contract we are reaffirming our already strong commitment to Galicia where throughout the last decade the company has invested €1.2 billion and provided jobs for over 700 people". Likewise, he emphasised that "by awarding it to Navantia and Windar, Iberdrola is standing by its pledge to support the industrial fabric of the regions in which it carries out its activities. We would like to make known our desire to continue to perform as a financial engine, as a driver of employment not just in Galicia but also in other areas of Spain, such as Andalusia, where the substation for this British farm is being built in Navantia's yard in Cadiz, as was the previous one for the German Wikinger farm”.

“I am proud to say that in the last year Iberdrola has made purchases totalling €8.7 billion - a large part going to Spanish firms for projects within our country and abroad - it has paid over €7.1 billion in tax, €3.2 billion of that in Spain, and it has provided employment throughout the world for 400,000 people”, declared Iberdrola's chairman.

For his part, Esteban García Vilasánchez pointed out that "over the last few years Navantia has become a benchmark in offshore wind farm construction and more specifically this Fene shipyard is now renowned for this in the competitive international market. 3 other wind farm projects have already been successfully completed in recent years in this shipyard”. He added that " wind farm diversification forms part of Navantia's 2018-2022 Strategy, a Plan that, together with the new investment drive in naval construction will guarantee the country's Defence and Security capabilities, and the retention of a key sector of Spanish industry, to foster technological and digital development with a qualified and innovative workforce, with the focus on a competitive and international industry 4.0."

Finally, Galán wished to make clear Iberdrola's firm commitment to sustainability, the fight against global warming and care for the environment - aspects in which the company is a world leader. “And we're going to continue in our determination to reduce CO² emissions, which are already 32% lower than the average in the European electricity sector, because they don't just affect climate change, but also people's health”. He also emphasised that in Iberdrola “we consider the fight against climate change to be a moral imperative, but also a commitment to our future, and an opportunity, as the work being done here today in this yard for Iberdrola demonstrates”

Jacket specifications:

• Jacket weight: 850 tonnes.
• Height: 626 metres.
• Footprint: 27 x 27 metres.
• Pile weight: 360 tonnes.
• Total steel used: 58,800 tonnes.
  
  
  

About IBERDROLA:

Iberdrola is a private company of global scope, founded over 150 years ago, during which time it has worked in the service of energy development, security of supply, as well as quality and innovation. Thanks to its strong growth and internationalisation, which began in 2001, it has become a world leader in clean energies and is already one of the top electric utilities in the world by market capitalisation, with 35,000 employees serving 100 million customers.

Iberdrola will invest €32 billion between 2018 and 2022, which will allow it to establish the foundations for sustainable future growth, and it will continue to contribute to the social development of the areas in which it is active. The group's intention is to keep on this track and offer, as well as shareholders' dividends, a growing, inclusive and sustainable social dividend.

About Navantia:

NAVANTIA constitutes a world reference in the design, construction and integration of warships with a high technological content, as well as ship repairs and upgrades. Its lines of activity also include the design and manufacturing of combat and command and control systems, integrated platform management systems, firing control systems, propulsion engines and life cycle support for all its products. Although its primary activity is in the naval sector, NAVANTIA also designs and manufactures systems for the Spanish Army and Air Force.

NAVANTIA belongs to the SEPI Group, a holding company which includes a total of 16 companies in which the Spanish state has direct majority shareholdings and which had a combined workforce of around 73,000 professionals in 2014. The SEPI Group also includes the Spanish state-owned television and radio corporation (Corporación Radiotelevisión Española) and a supervised public foundation. SEPI also has direct minority shareholdings in a further ten companies, and indirect shareholdings in more than one hundred companies.