Masdar, the UAE’s leading renewable energy company, recently signed a strategic agreement with Iberdrola, a world leader in clean energy. The aim of this agreement is to co-invest in the 476-megawatt (MW) Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm in the German Baltic Sea. Iberdrola will retain a majority stake of 51% in the project, which represents an important step in strengthening the security of green energy in Europe.
Towards the Baltic Eagle horizon: a promising wind blows across Europe
Under the terms of the agreement, the Baltic Eagle wind farm is valued at around 1.6 billion euros. Iberdrola will be responsible for asset management, including operations, maintenance and other corporate services. The collaboration was formalized in Madrid by Ignacio Galan, Executive Chairman of Iberdrola, and Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar, as part of a wider cooperation agreement between the two renewable energy companies.
The Baltic Eagle wind farm will comprise 50 wind turbines built on monopile foundations, each with a capacity of 9.53 MW. It is expected to generate around 1.9 terawatt-hours (TWh) of clean energy each year, enough to power around 475,000 homes and reduce CO2 emissions by 800,000 tonnes annually. The park will be commissioned at the end of 2024, with a minimum regulated tariff of 64.6 euros/MWh for the first 20 years. The company has already sold all its production under long-term contracts.
A wind of agreement for a green future: Masdar and Iberdrola join forces for an energy transition
Representatives of the two companies, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technologies and Chairman of Masdar, and Mr. Ignacio Galan, Executive Chairman of Iberdrola, spoke of the urgent need to triple the world’s renewable energy capacity to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming. This collaboration is part of a 2022 agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Germany to promote joint projects in the fields of energy security, decarbonization and climate action. The Baltic Eagle project is a significant step towards achieving this goal.
This strategic collaboration between Masdar and Iberdrola will boost the ambitious development of offshore wind energy in Europe. Thanks to their combined expertise, these two clean energy leaders will be able to share knowledge and develop innovative solutions, which could lead to improved project management practices and operational efficiencies. This synergy should also help reduce the cost of offshore wind power, making it more competitive on the market.
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Iberdrola is already a major player in offshore wind energy, with 3,000 MW of projects under construction or already secured. Its current projects include the Saint-Brieuc offshore wind farm in France, which was recently connected to the power grid, and the Vineyard Wind project in the USA, scheduled for commissioning in the last quarter of 2023. The Baltic Eagle wind farm in Germany will join Iberdrola’s list of operational projects, which already includes facilities such as West of Duddon Sands in the Irish Sea, Wikinger in the German Baltic Sea and East Anglia ONE in the southern North Sea.
For its part, Masdar is a key player in the development of clean energy in the United Arab Emirates and worldwide. Since 2006, the company has contributed over 20 GW of clean energy capacity in 40 countries, powering more than 5.25 million homes. Its investment projects exceed $30 billion and cover a wide range of renewable technologies, including the Abu Dhabi concentrating solar power plant and the first floating offshore wind farm off the coast of Scotland. Masdar is also involved in major projects in Southeast Asia and Africa, making a significant contribution to the global transition to sustainable energy sources.
