Offshore wind power is a derivation of wind energy that places its installations offshore, benefiting from the greater impact of the wind and its greater constancy. In order to exploit this resource to the maximum, large offshore structures equipped with the latest technical innovations are developed.
ADVANTAGES OF OFFSHORE WIND AND ITS IMPACT IN SPAIN
Currently, offshore wind farms are located in shallow waters (60 metres) and far from the coast and protected areas due to their geological interest. This feature gives Spain the opportunity to join the floating offshore wind boom.
Several companies have already been designing projects to install wind farms off the Spanish coast. In fact, in December 2021, the government approved the Roadmap for the Development of offshore wind and marine energy in Spain. This roadmap aims to promote new renewables in marine waters by 2030 with the objective of reaching between 1,000 and 3,000 MW of floating offshore wind power and 60 MW of other more incipient marine energies, such as wave or tidal energy.
According to studies by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the continental wind power industry association Wind Europe, floating wind will accelerate its technological maturity in the coming years and will reduce its operating costs in order to increase its competitiveness.
What are the main advantages of offshore wind energy?
- It is a clean, renewable, inexhaustible energy and therefore contributes to ending dependence on fossil fuels.
- It is a cheap source of energy that can compete with other traditional energy sources that are more harmful to the environment, such as coal, petrol or diesel.
- In offshore wind farms the wind flow is even more constant than on land, as they do not encounter rough surfaces or obstacles.
- In countries with a high population density, the installation of floating wind farms is a good option, as they do not affect human activity.
Spain currently wants to have between 15 and 17 floating offshore wind farms by the end of this decade. To do so, it needs to develop an incipient technology in which it is a leader and which can open up markets around the world, although we will also have to face some difficulties because the environmental declaration is more complicated than on land.
In order to put offshore wind energy into practice in our country, one of the first steps must be to approve maritime spatial plans to determine possible sites and regulate coexistence with other activities.