Capital Energy signs agreement with Canary Islands Maritime Cluster to boost offshore wind in the archipelago

Company aims to become leading offshore wind developer in Spain, bolstering its leadership in the renewables sector  

• Five-year extendable MOU to develop joint plan identifying supply chain services to meet offshore wind farm requirements
• Capital Energy met cluster companies in November to present proposal and related benefits for Islands’ industrial fabric
• New agreement joins others signed with leading Canary shipyards in Q4 2021, responds to firm’s commitment to develop places where it operates and ratifies commitment to the Canaries, a strategic part of offshore wind energy development in Spain

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 4 January 2022.- Capital Energy, the Spanish energy company founded 20 years ago that aims to become the first vertically integrated 100% renewable energy operator on the Iberian peninsula,  continues to shore up its work in the offshore wind energy sector in Spain and, specifically, the Canary Islands.

The renewables company has just signed its fourth memorandum of understanding (MOU) in the archipelago, specifically with the Canary Islands Maritime Cluster (CMC), with the main aim of drafting a joint plan identifying the supply chain services required to deliver on the needs arising from offshore wind farm construction in the islands going forwards. The agreement will have an extendable duration of five years.

Capital Energy representatives had previously met in November with Gran Canaria and Tenerife companies associated with the Maritime Cluster -including groups such as FEMETE, ATIREN and FEDEPORT- to present its offshore proposal and the benefits of its development. The plan was very well received by the entire industrial fabric of the Canary Islands.

The MOU follows agreements the firm reached with three local shipyards in the last quarter of 2021: ZAMAKONA YARDS, ASTICAN and HYDRAMAR. Capital Energy’s commitment to the Islands, considered strategic for the development of offshore wind energy, is ratified via these framework agreements that respond to the firm’s commitment to companies in the regions where it operates.

Capital Energy will continue to reach out and encourage the signing of agreements with local authorities, companies and groups that can benefit from the booster effect it plans to exercise with its activity in the Canary Islands.

“We try to balance our contribution to the progressive decarbonisation of the economy, through the development of renewable energy, with the promotion of the economic and social development of all the places where we operate, as shown by the signing of this agreement with such an important Canary Islands entity that it will serve to promote our work in the offshore wind sector,” said Capital Energy chief executive Juan José Sánchez.

“This agreement with Capital Energy is an excellent example of the effort the Canary Islands Maritime Cluster is making to make the Islands a place that serves as an example of the model of sustainable development in which economic policy is framed worldwide, with projects that create wealth and employment and respect the natural environment,” said president Antonio Vicente Marrero, chairperson of the Canary Islands Maritime Cluster.  “It is no coincidence that the Canary Islands have been designated a spearhead in the ‘Roadmap for Offshore Wind and Marine Energy’ recently approved by the Spanish Government”.

Reshaping the Spanish offshore wind scene

Capital Energy, winner of the two renewable auctions organised by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (Miterd) last year, in which around 2,200 megawatts (MW) were awarded, is harnessing the government’s commitment to this clean energy technology to develop a portfolio of several gigawatts to uphold an offshore wind share similar to the one it already has in onshore wind projects being processed in Spain.

Spain is forecast to have an operational offshore wind capacity of up to 3 gigawatts (GW) by 2030. Against this backdrop, Capital Energy aims to implement a minimum 750 MW of power, the development and construction of which would, at current prices, entail investing €3.5 Bn‑plus over the next decade.

Capital Energy’s origins are closely linked to offshore wind. In 2005, it presented an ambitious and pioneering plan for the development of this cutting-edge technology to the Directorate-General for Energy Policy and Mines at the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade that envisaged the possibility of developing a 1,800 MW offshore project portfolio. The company is currently analysing how this portfolio could fit into the new regulatory framework, while also moving ahead in finding new technically and economically viable sites.

About the Canary Islands Maritime Cluster

The Canary Islands Maritime Cluster is a regional nonprofit aimed primarily at enhancing the development and international competitiveness of the Islands’ marine and maritime sector. This in turn would bolster the local business, economic and social fabric through the integration, creation, strengthening and sustainability of companies and institutions within the value chain, promoting their international presence and powering the technological and innovative level of engaging stakeholders, in line with development policies and social demands. The CMC’s strategy for achieving this goal is posited on values including cooperation, engagement, communication and competitiveness.

About Capital Energy

In line with its commitment to a green and fair energy transition, Capital Energy currently has a wind and solar portfolio on the Iberian Peninsula of around 35 gigawatts (GW) of power, with more than 8.7 GW already awarded grid access permits.

Capital Energy has delivered on its strategic goal of operating across the entire renewable energy value chain: from design, where it has a consolidated position thanks to its nearly 20-year track record, to construction, production, storage, operation and supply to end customers. The company has around 400 employees in 16 offices around Spain and Portugal.