The race to lead in offshore wind energy continues in Europe. While northern European countries are forging ahead with major contracts, the Spanish industry is demonstrating its ability to play a leading role in manufacturing the most demanding components. This week, the sector has seen a flurry of new developments, confirming that offshore wind has become one of the key drivers of the energy transition on the continent.
From the port of Bilbao to the Danish waters of the North Sea, passing through the Canary Islands, activity is happening at breakneck speed. The combination of massive projects, multi-million euro investments, and proprietary technological developments paints a very active picture for the coming years, with Spain gaining significant weight in a supply chain that increasingly demands greater precision and industrial capacity.
Milestones in component manufacturing
The Basque company Haizea Wind Group has once again made history in the sector. The company, with a plant in the port of Bilbao, has completed the delivery to the Danish firm Ørsted of the largest monopiles ever manufactured on the Iberian Peninsula . These pieces, which are driven into the seabed to support wind turbines, have a diameter of 11 meters, exceed 105 meters in length, and weigh more than 2.300 tons each. According to the company itself, this is the first time a component of this size has been produced in Spain, and in fact, they are considered the second largest in Europe.
The logistics of moving such massive structures have been a significant challenge. The company has collaborated with Grúas Aguado, Cadeler, and Mammoet for the relocation, loading, and transport. The monopiles are destined for Hornsea 3, the world's largest offshore wind farm , which Ørsted is building in the North Sea, approximately 120 kilometers off the coast of Norfolk, UK. With a capacity of 2,9 GW, this wind farm will be able to supply clean electricity to more than 3,3 million British homes when fully operational.
Denmark accelerates with new contracts
In Denmark, the sector is also booming. The Danish Energy Agency has confirmed the awarding of two new offshore wind farms to the Swedish company Vattenfall. These are the Nordsøen Midt and Hesselø projects, with capacities of 1 GW and 800 MW respectively. Vattenfall's bid was €67,42/MWh for the former and €72,50/MWh for the latter, a price that will remain fixed for 20 years from the commissioning of each facility.
The bidding process was not without competition. While Nordsøen Midt received two bids, Hesselø attracted interest from as many as five companies. According to Stig Uffe Pedersen, Deputy Director General of the Danish Energy Agency, the process was "extensive and successful," and represents an important milestone for the Nordic country. The bidding for a third wind farm, Nordsøen Syd, will remain open until October 2028.
David Flood, Director of Vattenfall's Offshore Business Unit, expressed his satisfaction with the award, emphasizing that these projects reinforce the company's commitment to clean electrification in Europe . With these new additions, Vattenfall now has approximately 1,5 GW of offshore wind capacity in Denmark, a country that has become a global leader in this technology.
Spain promotes floating wind power and industrial investment
Spain, for its part, is not lagging behind. The Ministry for Ecological Transition has granted Esteyco prior administrative authorization to install the WHEEL floating offshore wind turbine prototype in the Canary Islands. This 6 MW wind turbine will be positioned off the coast between Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Telde, on the Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN). This project, funded by the European Horizon Europe program, aims to validate a technology designed to operate in deep waters, where fixed foundations are no longer feasible.
The main innovation of the WHEEL is not its power output, but its floating platform. The structure, consisting of a 72-meter steel tower on a tripod and two concrete tanks connected by tendons, can be fully assembled in port and towed to its final location. It also incorporates a two-bladed turbine from the Dutch company 2-BEnergy, with a rotor diameter of 140,6 meters. The aim is to reduce costs and simplify the construction and transport of these platforms, one of the major challenges in deploying floating offshore wind.
Investment is also reaching northern Spain. COFIDES has decided to support the growth plan of WindWaves, the offshore wind subsidiary of the Amper group, with an investment that will allow the construction of new facilities in the Outer Port of A Coruña to manufacture structures for fixed and floating offshore wind projects. The project includes a program to digitize industrial operations and upgrade the As Somozas facilities. In addition, the manufacturing processes for rigid sails for wind propulsion, a technology aimed at decarbonizing maritime transport, will be validated on an industrial scale.
Enrique López, CEO of Amper, emphasized that COFIDES' investment will strengthen the group's leadership in developing offshore wind structures, boosting energy independence and Europe's strategic autonomy. Ángeles Pérez, president of COFIDES, noted that the transaction will support WindWaves' international growth and enhance production capacity in Spain to meet international demand in a sector crucial to the energy transition.
HVDC transmission, the new battleground
Meanwhile, transmission infrastructure has become as strategic an element as the wind turbines themselves. The contract to manufacture the substructure for the BalWin5 project, a 2,2 GW offshore converter platform that will form part of the TenneT network in the German North Sea, has been awarded to the South Korean company SK Oceanplant. This is the first comprehensive contract of its kind obtained by a South Korean company for a European HVDC platform.
These types of platforms are essential for transporting electricity generated offshore over long distances with minimal losses. They receive the alternating current produced by wind turbines, convert it to direct current, and transmit it to land via submarine cables. HVDC technology has become indispensable as wind farms are installed further and further offshore, and operators like TenneT continue to drive multi-billion-euro investments to strengthen the European offshore grid. The BalWin5 project, scheduled to become operational in 2033, will be capable of supplying approximately 2,75 million homes.
The internationalization of the supply chain is another sign of the sector's maturity. For years, the manufacture of substations and foundations was concentrated in European companies, but growing demand has opened the door to Asian manufacturers with industrial capacity and experience in marine structures. This diversification helps reduce bottlenecks and ensures that projects can meet increasingly demanding schedules.
In short, the European offshore wind sector is experiencing a period of rapid growth. The delivery of Haizea Wind Group's giant monopiles, the awarding of new wind farms in Denmark, the boost to floating wind in the Canary Islands, the investment in the A Coruña plant, and the advances in HVDC transmission demonstrate that the industry is ready for a significant leap forward. Spain, with its industrial and technological capabilities, is positioning itself as a key player in this transformation, while Europe continues to set the pace in the global race to lead in offshore renewable energy.
