Iberdrola launches €30 million marine energy project

Spanish energy giant Iberdrola Ingeniería is launching a €30 million project to develop marine energy technologies able to harness the power of waves and tidal currents.

The three-year Ocean Lider project will bring together 19 Spanish companies and 25 research centres, headed by Iberdrola.

The project has drawn $15 million in funds from the Spanish Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) and the Spanish government’s State Fund for Local Investment (the so-called Plan-E), along with backing from the Ministry of Science and Innovation.

The company says the development efforts will aim to combine new marine renewable technologies with more mature energy generation technologies such as offshore wind.

Meanwhile, Iberdrola Renovables has announced that it is bringing forward the construction of five new wind farms with a capacity of 813 MW in the US after receiving nearly $600 million in federal stimulus funds. The company says its hopes to receive a further $430 million this year as wind farms come on stream.

Iberdrola currently has 3459 MW of installed capacity in the US, representing a 50% increase in one year. The new installations will be at Cayuga Ridge in Illinois (300 MW), Peñascal in Texas (202 MW) and Star Point in Oregon (99 MW).

The company, who owns Scottish Power Renewables, has also been given the rights to develop an offshore wind farm off the coast of East Anglia in the UK together with Swedish company Vattenfall.

Construction on the site, which has a potential capacity of 7200 MW, could start as early as 2015 and ultimately generate enough energy for up to five million homes.

For further information:
www.iberdrolaingenieria.com/
www.iberdrolarenovables.es/wcren/corporativa/iberdrola?IDPAG=ENINICIORENOVAB
www.scottishpowerrenewables.com/
www.vattenfall.se/
http://work.consense.co.uk/scottishpower/eaow/

12 January 2010

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