Spain is leading the offshore wind revolution abroad, and other countries are moving faster. While the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany are installing large wind farms at sea, Spain faced a challenge: its territorial waters are very deep, making seafloor-mounted turbines impractical. Rapid progress in floating offshore wind, which works in deeper waters, opens the door for Spain to participate in the global boom.
In recent years, major energy players have been designing projects to deploy wind farms along the Spanish coast. Iberdrola, a world leader in offshore wind, has floating projects totaling more than 1,200 MW with planned sites in the Canary Islands and Galicia. BlueFloat Energy and Sener together manage about 2,000 MW in various locations, including a 1,200 MW project off the coast of Galicia, and have also developed floating wind installations. Other players such as EDP Renewables, Engie, ACS, Greenalia, and Enerocean contribute to a portfolio that surpasses 3,000 MW of capacity, spread off the coasts of Galicia, Asturias, the Basque Country, Catalonia, Andalusia, and the Canary Islands.
Repsol and Naturgy have signaled bold moves to capture a share of offshore wind in Spain, forming alliances with global leaders to strengthen expansion. Repsol will partner with Danish giant Ørsted to build parks in national waters, while Naturgy collaborates with Norwegian operator Equinor to pursue market opportunities in Spain.
Today the offshore wind surge in Spain remains a promise and a bold plan rather than a fully realized reality. The government approved a roadmap for offshore wind and marine energy development in Spain, outlining a strategy to promote new renewable energies in marine areas by 2030. The plan anticipates floating offshore wind and other marine energies, with progress from small-scale experiments toward larger deployments in the coming years.
Industry observers note Spain’s targets for the next decade are cautious, yet they see significant potential. A leading industry figure described the plan as prudent, while also emphasizing that Spain could host a much larger buildout of floating wind. Government officials expect that the European Commission may concentrate up to a notable portion of the bloc’s floating wind capacity in Spanish waters by 2030, highlighting the strategic importance of Spain’s coastal sectors.
First auction in 2023
Now is the moment to lay foundations for expansion. The Ministry of Ecological Transition, under the leadership of a prominent energy minister, has opened public consultation on a new regulatory framework for offshore wind and maritime activities. This framework aims to streamline the management of offshore uses and minimize environmental impacts. The government has signaled plans for the first floating offshore wind auction in early 2023, as confirmed by a senior energy official.
The Roadmap also seeks to position Spain as a center of innovation for the design and testing of new technologies and includes initial funding. A substantial grant program was earmarked to support research and development through 2023, sourced from European Recovery funds designed to drive transformation in the energy sector.
Spain already stands out in floating offshore wind development, with seven of the world’s 27 identified projects led by Spanish companies. Spain is the European nation with the most R&D facilities dedicated to offshore floating wind and other marine energies, including notable centers such as the Canary Islands Ocean Platform and the Vizcaya Marine Energy Platform, as well as experimental zones for marine energy off Punta Langosteira in A Coruña, which hosts one of the world’s second largest wave energy test benches.
The race for offshore wind is also a race for efficiency and profitability. Industry analyses anticipate rapid maturation of floating wind technologies and falling operating costs. Current small-scale floating wind demonstrations show levelized costs of electricity in the range of one hundred eighty to two hundred euros per megawatt hour, with early commercial parks expected to reach eighty to one hundred euros per MWh by 2025 and possibly as low as sixty euros by 2030 as economies of scale and technology improve. These projections emphasize a trend toward cheaper, more reliable offshore wind powered by floating platforms, expanding Spain’s potential in the broader energy transition.