Iberdrola is making progress on a possible IPO transaction for its offshore wind business. The utility has decided to separate the functions of its renewables business in the United States into two areas and appoint two CEOs. On the one hand, Bill White will become the head of US offshore wind energy, and José Antonio Miranda will head the onshore business.
White will lead the development and implementation of Avangrid Renewables’ global offshore wind strategy in the United States. In addition to the two southern New England projects (Vineyard Wind and Park City Wind), Avangrid Renewables is developing the Kitty Hawk offshore wind project, a 2,500-megawatt proposal off the coast of Virginia and North Carolina.
José Antonio Miranda will be responsible for the area of terrestrial renewables
In total, Avangrid Renewables has nearly 5 GW in development, enough to power about two million American homes.
On the other hand, Miranda will be responsible for the terrestrial renewable energy business. From this newly created position, he will lead the company’s growth in wind and solar energy. Miranda has been CEO of Siemens Gamesa’s land business in the Americas region, as well as Gamesa’s chief executive officer in Asia.
The president of Iberdrola, Ignacio Galán, announced in the last presentation of the company’s results that he was studying in great detail the possibility of segregating the offshore wind business in order to accelerate its growth. Since then, the company has only strengthened itself in this area, which increases the chances that the company will end up taking a step forward in this regard in the near future.
Iberdrola reached an agreement last March with Cosmo Eco Power and Hitz engineering for the development of the Seihoku-oki offshore wind project (600 MW). The operation comes six months after the acquisition of 100% of the Japanese developer Acacia Renewables, with a 3,300 MW offshore wind portfolio in the south of the country.
The company is also making progress in the development of what is set to become its largest offshore wind project. Brazil may be the gold of this energy for the Spanish company that is already working on developments for 9,000 MW, which could mean an investment of 22,500 million euros at current market prices.
International growth
The company also follows the auctions in Poland (14 GW in contention), Scotland (10 GW), Denmark (1.6 GW), France (1.6 GW), Ireland (5 GW) and is also considering presenting itself to the Holland (1.4 GW), which can make the Spanish one of the largest promoters of offshore wind energy.
Iberdrola recently entered Ireland with projects for 3,000 MW, in Sweden for 3,600 MW. The utility is also preparing to attend auctions in the United States with projects in Rhode Island for 3,600 MW and in the United Kingdom, for the East Anglia Hub 3 project for 3,100 MW.
In Poland, the utility signed a framework agreement with partner Seawind for the creation of a joint venture with the aim of developing offshore wind farms in the country.
In Denmark, the consortium formed by Iberdrola Renovables International and Total has been shortlisted for the next phase of the auction of a 1 GW offshore wind project.
On February 5, the company announced an agreement with DP Energy to acquire a majority stake in offshore wind projects on the east, west and south coasts of Ireland, which will be eligible for upcoming offshore wind capacity auctions in the country, which will take place between 2025 and 2030.
In Germany, the Baltic Eagle project (476 MW) continues the process of closing the manufacturing and installation contracts for both the wind turbines and the foundations and cables and this week the company, as announced the Economist, has decided to exercise its right of first refusal to be able to resume the Windanker project and strengthen its hub in the Baltic Sea.
In France, preparations are continuing at the Saint Brieuc project (496 MW), with works having started on May 4.
In Sweden, Iberdrola, together with Svea Vind Offshore, has started the administrative processing of park 2 Gretas Klackar, located in the Gävle region and which joins the Utposten 2 project, which had already started such processing.
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