Ørsted has entered inked a series of partnerships to support its plans to build a raft of solar and onshore wind projects across Spain.
The Danish energy developed is building a new onshore business in Spain by entering four partnerships with Glide Energy, Rolwind, ARBA Energías Renovables, and Ereda, which it says will support project development and services.
Ørsted’s said these firms all have “extensive experience” in greenfield development and together form a complementary geographic footprint across the country.
In the short term, they will help the company develop onshore wind and solar PV projects in Spain via participation in upcoming grid auctions expected in mid-2022.
It has also established a team and new office in Madrid, and in April announced a partnership with Madrid-headquartered energy major Repsol to explore joint development of floating offshore wind projects in Spain.
The firm is seeking to capture a growing market share as the Spanish government intends to reach 70% renewable electricity generation by 2030, supported by plans to build 39GW of solar PV, 50GW onshore wind, 3GW of floating offshore wind, and 40-60 MW of various types of marine energy by 2030.
In the longer term, Ørsted said it intends to work with the partners on large-scale onshore wind, solar PV, and storage projects that could be commercialised through either government auctions or the growing market for corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs).
Ultimately, it hopes to grow its global onshore clean energy capacity to some 17.5 GW by 2030.
The group first entered the European onshore market in 2021, via the acquisition of Brookfield Renewable Ireland’s onshore wind platform, adding to its existing onshore wind and solar portfolio is in the US.
Neil O’Donovan, CEO of Ørsted’s onshore business, said: “We’re pleased to have established several strong partnerships to drive our onshore entry into the Spanish market and execute another step in our strategy of scaling our European platform. Our ambition is to grow a significant multi-GW onshore business in Spain over the next decade across wind, solar, and storage technologies that will help our corporate and government partners decarbonise and complement the ambitions of Ørsted’s offshore business in a key market.”
