SPAIN is set to roll out offshore wind energy projects, with AndalucIa’s coast likely to host the first.
The wind farm, dubbed Nao Victoria, would feature 55 wind turbines and cover an area of 310km off the coast of Malaga and Campo de Gibraltar.
Situated between 25km and 40km from the shoreline, designed to reduce the visual impact, the completed wind farm could generate enough renewable energy to power 670,000 homes.
The project could generate over 3,000 jobs through construction, maintenance and operations.
Environmental regulations approved in 2023 stipulate that no wind farms can be constructed between the Bays of Cadiz and Algeciras – vital wildlife corridors for bluefin tuna and dolphins.
In fact, only 0.46% of Spanish waters are designated as potential areas for building wind farms due to environmental concerns.
However these zones alone could generate enough electricity to fulfil the government’s plan to power about 3 million homes.
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The proposed site of the Nao Victoria, in the Strait of Gibraltar and the Alboran sea has been approved for construction.
When the project was first proposed, the Vice President of IberBlue Wind, the company behind the wind farm, explained ‘Andalusia is an area with great potential for development in floating offshore wind energy and we want to contribute to positioning the region as a benchmark for offshore wind.’
Spain is aiming for 81% renewable energy by 2030 and the government believes that offshore wind farms, like the Nao Victoria, will play a defining role in their green energy transition.
By 2030, Spain wants to generate enough electricity to power 1-3 million homes through offshore wind.
Although the legal framework needed to build wind farms was approved in September 2024, the country has no operating offshore windfarms.
The Ministry of Environment is currently working with the public to decide how they will grant contracts for wind farms.
By the end of the month, the government is expected to lay out plans for the wind element of its green transition.
One of the projects expected to inaugurate Spain’s wind age was first proposed in 2022.
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