The World Today
Iberdrola, through its British subsidiary Scottish Power, has taken a decisive step forward in the launch of its East Anglia 3 offshore wind farm, located off the coast of Suffolk (United Kingdom) in the North Sea, and has completed the installation of the foundation for the project's offshore substation.
Weighing approximately 3,700 tons and standing 59 meters tall, this jacket-type steel structure is now secured to the seabed, at a depth of 36 meters. The company is moving forward with what will be the group's largest offshore wind farm and one of the most powerful in the world when it comes online, expected to be in late 2026.
Specifically, the HVDC substation will be responsible for converting the alternating current generated by the turbines into high-voltage direct current to reliably transport energy over long distances to the onshore power grid, the company reported.
East Anglia 3, with a capacity of 1,400 megawatts (MW), will be able to generate enough clean electricity to cover the energy needs of 1.3 million British homes. Furthermore, jobs will be created during its construction, reaching 2,300, and the total project investment will amount to approximately €5.2 billion.
The project has secured the sale of all its energy over the long term and at a fixed price through a contract for difference (CfD) awarded by the British government, and a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) signed with Amazon in 2024.
ALLIANCE WITH MASDAR.
In mid-July, Iberdrola and Abu Dhabi renewable energy group Masdar announced a joint venture in East Anglia 3, under which each company will hold a 50% stake in the asset. This transaction, valued at €5.2 billion , is the largest offshore wind energy transaction in the decade and constitutes the utility's largest joint venture.
Furthermore, also in the same month, financing for the park was signed with 24 international banks for an amount of approximately 3.5 billion pounds (approximately 4.1 billion euros). This transaction is one of the largest of its kind closed to date and will cover a substantial portion of the total investment in the project, estimated at approximately 5.2 billion euros, without consolidating debt in the financial statements of any of the partners.
This joint venture is part of the €15 billion strategic agreement signed by Iberdrola and Masdar during the UN COP28 climate conference in December 2023 to jointly develop clean energy projects in key markets such as Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with a commitment to triple renewable capacity by 2030.
The group chaired by Ignacio Sánchez Galán is a global powerhouse in offshore wind energy, where it recently launched the Baltic Eagle wind farm, the first project completed through its partnership with Masdar.
With a capacity of 476 MW, it will supply clean energy to approximately 475,000 homes and reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 800,000 tons annually.
Baltic Eagle thus joins Iberdrola's two other offshore wind farms in the German Baltic: the 350 MW Wikinger, already in operation, and the 315 MW Windanker, which will come online in 2026.
The energy company launched its first offshore park in 2014, West of Duddon Sands, in England, and this technology currently represents one of its largest growth drivers, with a solid project portfolio in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, as well as in Australia and Japan.
At the end of the first half of this year, the group had 2,471 MW of offshore wind installed, with plans to increase its capacity to 6,500 MW by 2030 thanks to significant investments worldwide.
