Iberdrola Creates Offshore Wind Division in Glasgow to Promote Wind Power Projects

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Spanish energy company Iberdrola Renovables SAU (PINKSHEETS:IRVDY) (Madrid, Spain), which is 80% owned by Iberdrola Ingenieria y Construccion SA (MCE:IBE) (Bilbao, Spain), has announced the creation of an Offshore Wind Division to develop its wind projects, which have a combined total capacity of almost 10,000 megawatts (MW).

The new division will be based in Glasgow, Scotland, and included in the company's United Kingdom business unit, ScottishPower Renewables. The division will be split into three organizational units to take care of business development, commercial endeavors, and operation and maintenance.

Iberdrola Renovables has an impressive portfolio of contracts associated with wind energy developments, many of which are located in the U.K. The company, together with the U.K. arm of the Swedish government-owned Vattenfall AB (Stockholm, Sweden), recently won the development rights for the 7,200-MW East Anglia windfarm, which is located off the east coast of England and is scheduled to begin construction in 2015.

In addition, the company has a further 2,500 MW of wind energy projects planned in the U.K., Germany and Spain. These include the 500-MW West of Duddon Sands offshore windfarm, located southwest of Barrow-in-Furness and scheduled to begin construction in early 2012.

In Spain, Iberdrola Renovables is seeking permits to construct six wind energy projects off the coasts of Cadiz, Castellon and Huelva, to supplement its existing renewable energy generation capacity of 5,500 MW in the country. Just last month, Iberdrola Renovables paid $441 million to purchase Spain's largest windfarm, the 244-MW facility at Andevalo, from Gamera Corporacion Technologica SA (MCE:GAM) (Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain).

Iberdrola Renovables intends to invest more than $12.3 million in the renewable energy sector between 2010 and 2012 to ensure it maintains its position as a world leader in wind energy. Of this, $6.7 billion will be allocated to projects in the U.S., about $2.6 billion will be invested in the U.K., $1.36 billion is targeted for projects in Spain, and about $1.6 billion has been allocated for the rest of the world.

In addition to the $12.3 billion allocated to renewable energy, Iberdrola will also invest $8.6 billion to network developments and $3.7 billion in generation and supply projects over the same period. The company also anticipates making cost savings of about $400 million each year in 2010 and 2011.

In the U.S., the investments are aimed at consolidating the company's position as the country's second-largest wind power operator. Iberdrola currently has 3,500 MW of generating capacity and a further 23,500 MW in proposed projects. In addition, it has also obtained $703 million in U.S. Treasury grants, of which $577 million is for renewable energy projects, $96 million is for smart-grid developments, and $30 million is for investigating better methods of energy storage.

While wind power is an important part of Iberdrola Renovables' strategy and technical expertise, the company is also involved in all aspects of renewable technology. The investment in network-developments will also cover increased support to allow renewable energy installations better access to national grids and to provide an infrastructure that will allow the mass-scale introduction of electric vehicles.

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