November 13, 2023
Reflections from the Marine Energy Forum Enerximar 2023 held last Friday in Ferrol and organized by Cluergal – Galician Renewable Energy Cluster.
Helena Brage, Business Development Manager at BlueFloat Energy, who participated in the roundtable “Technological Challenges in Offshore Wind Energy” moderated by ITG – Galician Technological Institute and alongside representatives from Ferrovial and Iberdrola, highlighted some key points:
Preparing for the deployment of offshore wind: Helena emphasized that offshore wind energy is a “national opportunity” that we should not miss. Although it holds great promise, there are still obstacles to overcome, such as the need to adjust the national electrical system, the continuation of research and development in a technology that is advancing rapidly thanks to the investment of technologists and support from the REN Marinas program of IDAE – Institute for the Diversification and Saving of Energy, as well as the technological challenge facing the supply chain to make projects scalable and industrializable.
To overcome these barriers, it is crucial to anticipate the year 2030 and ensure proper planning. Regulation cannot be delayed any longer, and processes for project approvals and permits for future projects must be streamlined.
Facing uncertainty: In a context marked by uncertainty after recent international tenders, Helena emphasized the developers’ responsibility to provide the technical maturity necessary for our projects to ensure their long-term viability.
From the BlueFloat Energy and Sener consortium, we address the challenges of marine wind by working with all stakeholders and conducting technical field characterization studies from the early stages of the project, prior to participation in marine wind tenders. This includes measuring wind resource data using LiDAR buoys to accurately calculate wind production at the chosen site and optimize our wind farm designs.
We continue working to jointly build a marine wind industry in Spain.
