Capital Energy signs its first agreements with shipyards in the Canary Islands to promote its entry into the offshore wind industry

The energy company aims to hold in offshore wind energy in 2030 the same market share there it currently holds in the processing of onshore wind projects   

• Capital Energy signs an MOU with ASTICAN and another with ZAMAKONA YARDS in order to use their port facilities, as well as the different services they provide, to meet the needs resulting from the future construction of offshore wind farms in the Canary Islands archipelago
• These collaboration agreements, with five-year extendable terms, provide for, inter alia, the manufacture of floating foundations, their assembly with turbines, storage of all types of components, the transport of people and materials and the building of the O&M base
• The agreements, a product of Capital Energy’s commitment to developing the territories where it carries out its activity, ratify the company’s commitment to this region, which it considers to be strategic for developing offshore wind energy in Spain

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 18 October 2021. Capital Energy, a Spanish energy company founded in 2002 with the aim of becoming the first vertically-integrated 100%-renewable energy operator on the Iberian Peninsula, has begun to take its first steps to break into the budding offshore wind energy sector in Spain.

The renewable energy company has just signed its first two strategic collaboration agreements (MOUs) with two shipyards in the Canary Islands, ASTICAN and ZAMAKONA YARDS. Through the agreements, these companies will make their port facilities, as well as the different services they provide, available to Capital Energy, in order to meet the needs arising from the future construction of offshore wind farms in the archipelago.

These agreements, with five-year extendable terms, provide for, inter alia, the manufacture, commissioning and launching of the floating foundations and mooring systems, the assembly of the turbines and storage of all types of components necessary for building an offshore wind farm: turbines, floating foundations, mooring systems, submarine electrical cables and their accessories etc.

Capital Energy has also agreed with ASTICAN and ZAMAKONA YARDS that these shipyards will take care of the necessary offshore logistics during the construction stage, such as the transport of personnel/materials, surveillance vessels, flotels, etc. Lastly, they may provide operation and maintenance services, including the construction and operation of the O&M base or technical inspections of the wind farm. 

These framework agreements, which are a product of Capital Energy’s commitment to the industrial sector of the regions where it carries out its activity, ratify the company’s commitment to this autonomous community, which it considers to be strategic for developing offshore wind energy. In this regard, it will continue to encourage the signing of agreements with local authorities, companies and groups that might benefit from the pull-through effect that it expects to exercise with its activity in the Canary Islands. 

Juan José Sánchez, CEO of Capital Energy, said, “we try to reconcile our contribution to the progressive decarbonisation of the economy, through the implementation of renewable energies, with the promotion of the economic and social development of all the territories in which we operate, as evidenced by the signing of these agreements with such major companies in the Canary Islands, which will provide a boost to our project in the offshore wind energy sector”. 

For his part, Germán Suárez, Chairman and CEO of ASTICAN, pointed out that “the decarbonisation of the economy over the coming decades until we reach the targets of the European Union in 2050, when we will finally become a climate-neutral continent, is opening up endless opportunities for economic diversification, and we are only at the beginning. In our shipyards, we not only want to contribute and participate in the decarbonisation of maritime transport, by implementing changes and improvements in the existing fleet of ships to comply with the mandatory environmental sustainability requirements, but, due to our industrial capacity, our decades of experience in the shipping sector and our strategically located infrastructures, we will also be an essential link in the value chain involved in the construction, assembly, and installation of any fixed or floating structure used for sea-based energy generation.” 

Álvaro Garaygordóbil, CEO of ZAMAKONA YARDS Canary Islands, has highlighted that “ZAMAKONA YARDS is 100% committed to training, digitisation and decarbonisation in our shipyards. All of this will allow us to bring to a successful conclusion any future commitment related to renewable energies. I think it will be a great step for the industrial development of the Port of Las Palmas”.

Breakthrough in the Spanish offshore wind sector 

Capital Energy, winner of the last renewable energy auction organised in January, is now striving, in light of the government’s commitment to this clean energy technology, to develop a portfolio of several gigawatts in order to hold an offshore wind energy share similar to that which it already holds in onshore wind projects that are being processed in Spain. 

According to forecasts, Spain could have an operational offshore wind capacity of up to 3 gigawatts (GW) by 2030. In this context, Capital Energy aims to put into operation a minimum of 750 megawatts (MW) of power. Developing and building this power would involve, at current prices, an investment of over €3.5 billion over the next decade. 

It should be remembered that the origins of Capital Energy are closely linked to offshore wind energy and that, specifically, in 2005 it presented an ambitious and pioneering development plan for this cutting-edge technology to the Directorate-General of Energy Policy and Mines of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade, which provided for the possibility of developing a portfolio of offshore projects of 1,800 MW. 

The company is currently analysing how this entire portfolio might fit into the new regulatory framework, while at the same time making progress in the search for new technically and economically viable sites. 

With the aim of promoting this promising business area, Capital Energy has hired a professional with proven experience. Pablo Alcón joined the company in July as Head of Offshore Wind Energy after five years as project manager in several of the offshore farms promoted by Iberdrola to date, both in Europe (Wikinger and East Anglia One) and in the United States (Vineyard Wind and Park City Wind). 

Previously, this Civil Engineer, a graduate of the Polytechnic University of Valencia with a Master’s Degree in Offshore and Ocean Technology from Cranfield University (UK), had worked in other large multinational engineering and construction firms, such as Eni's subsidiary Saipem, McDermott International and BPP Technical Services. 

About ASTICAN  

ASTICAN, in the Port of Las Palmas, is a shipyard with almost 50 years’ experience in repairs and conversions of all types of ships, oil rigs and floating equipment. It has repaired around 7,000 ships to date and is committed to the adaptation of its processes to new technologies and expansion as the pillars of its economic growth. In turn, together with the Astander shipyard, in the city of Santander, and, recently, with the acquisition of the shipyard in the Port of Balboa, in the Panama Canal, it is currently the largest group of private shipyards in Spain exclusively engaged in ship repairs and transformations, with facilities in key areas of international maritime traffic. 

Within the flexibility and adaptability that characterises ASTICAN lies the objective of contributing to the development of renewable energies that will ensure a sustainable future for the Canary Islands, through the participation in the biggest floating wind energy project in Spain. 

About ZAMAKONA YARDS 

ZAMAKONA YARDS is one of the most important ship repair and construction groups in Spain, with 50 years’ experience in the sector both in the Cantabrian Sea and in the Canary Islands. Its group of companies is divided into three shipyards: 

Zamakona Yards Bilbao - Specialising in advanced construction of offshore vessels, tugs, fishing vessels and ferries. 

Zamakona Yards Pasaia - Specialising in the construction of high-specification vessels, as well as ship repairs and conversions. 

Zamakona Yards Canarias - Specialising in ship repairs both afloat and in dry dock. 

About Capital Energy 

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

Thanks to the launch of its retail arm in the final quarter of 2020, Capital Energy reached its strategic aim of being present on the entire renewable energy value chain: from development, where, thanks to its 20-year history, the Company has a consolidated position, to construction, production, storage, operation and supply. The company has 385 employees distributed throughout its 15 offices in Spain and Portugal.