Spanish electric utility company Iberdrola is pressing ahead with its third offshore wind project in the Baltic Sea with an €800m investment in the 300 MW Windaker project.
The German Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) confirmed that an Iberdrola subsidiary, Windanker GmbH, has exercised its right of entry to the pre-developed site. O-1.3 in the German Baltic Sea.
The project should reinforce the company’s Baltic Hub in Germany, which also includes the operational 350 MW Wikinger offshore wind farm and the 476 MW Baltic Eagle under construction. Following a total investment of some €3.5bn, the Hub should have an installed capacity of over 1.1 GW by 2026.
Windanker will come on stream in 2026 and will be the first offshore project in the German Baltic Sea at market conditions. Most of its electricity output is expected to be allocated to long-term power purchase contracts in the German market.
Iris Stempfle, managing director of Iberdrola Renovables Germany, stated: “With this third offshore wind farm project in Germany, Iberdrola is underlining its commitment to Germany as one of the strategically important markets. The realisation of Windanker on a zero-bid basis confronts us with challenges due to the special conditions in the Baltic Sea. We are able to master these challenges through synergies with our Baltic Hub. But until offshore wind energy is fully integrated into the market, we consider an intelligent transitional market design to be necessary.”
