Zierbena (Bizkaia) (EFE).- Haizea Wind Group and Iberdrola have signed a contract for close to 250 million euros for the former to manufacture 50 monopiles for the wind turbines of a wind farm in the United Kingdom owned by the electric company.
The presidents of Haizea Wind Group, Dámaso Quintana, and Iberdrola, Ignacio Sánchez Galán, signed this contract this Wednesday in the presence of the Lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu, at the facilities of the Basque wind tower manufacturing company in the Port of Bilbao.
The contract will also mean the creation of some 350 direct jobs at the Haizea Bilbao plant.
The 50 monopiles that Haizea Wind Group will manufacture for Iberdrola will serve to support the wind turbines of the East Anglia Three offshore wind farm in the United Kingdom owned by Scottish Power, an Iberdrola group company, which with a capacity of 1.4 GW will supply clean energy to more of a million British homes.
Orders for 4 years for 1,500 million
This contract is in addition to the one that Haizea signed last September with the Danish company Orsted and will allow the Basque company to complete a workload in Bilbao that exceeds 1,500 million euros for the next 4 years.
In addition, today the first stone of the expansion of the Haizea Bilbao facilities was laid with an investment of more than 150 million euros and whose works will be carried out by Amenabar.
Currently the Haizea Bilbao plant has 40,800 square meters and 500 workers.
Following the signing of these contracts with Iberdrola and Orsted, the workforce will rise to 850 operators and the facilities will be expanded to 200,000 square meters with the construction of three new warehouses in addition to the three already existing and an additional storage area to accommodate monopiles before loading them onto transport vessels.
Monopiles are large steel structures used to fix wind turbines to the seabed. Currently, for 10-12 MW offshore wind turbines, monopiles have a diameter of 8-9 meters, a length of 80-90 meters and a weight of about 1,500 tons.
In the future, with wind turbines of up to 20MW, it is estimated that the monopiles will reach up to 14-15 meters in diameter, up to 130 meters in length and weigh around 3,500 tons.
With the planned investments, the Haizea Bilbao plant will be able to manufacture pieces of these latest sizes in serial production.
“World benchmark” in the manufacture of wind towers
“Today we can proudly say” that Haizea Bilbao has become a “world benchmark” in the manufacture of offshore wind towers, said the president of Haizea Wind Group, Dámaso Quintana, who recalled that the company currently employs to more than 1,600 people and has 6 factories in Spain, Argentina and France.
He has assured that the group, which was formed in 2017, had a turnover of 300 million euros per year last year and that they aspire to exceed 600 million in 2025 and have more than 1,800 employees.
He highlighted the milestone represented by the collaboration with Iberdrola. “We are not going to let you down. You have a loyal supplier here”, Quintana told Sánchez Galán.
Increase energy self-sufficiency in Europe
The president of Iberdrola has insisted on his part in the commitment to renewables. He recalled that Europe is experiencing a moment of “anguish” in the energy supply due to the war in Ukraine and has insisted that it is necessary to seek the self-sufficiency that renewables allow.
“We have to speed up”, “run to increase our energy self-sufficiency in Europe, and that citizens and companies can benefit from the lower costs that these technologies are going to have”, Sánchez Galán summarized.
He has also said that Iberdrola wants to continue being “the engine of commitment to the prosperity of the Basque Country and Spain” and has assured that since its creation in Bilbao 120 years ago the company has always found allies in this territory.
“This agreement of close to 250 million euros and this new factory are an absolute example of success”, summarized Galán, who stated that Bilbao is “kilometre zero for clean energy” and highlighted the potential of the Basque industry in the wind field.
weave agreements
The lehendakari has also assured that it is “essential” to generate their own energy to reduce foreign dependency and make an “unequivocal and country” commitment to renewable energy.
He has criticized the fact that there are those who do not like the fact that renewable energy parks are located in the closest environment and yet defend having the factories that produce the elements for these infrastructures.
Urkullu has also said that it gives him “enormous satisfaction” to see how Iberdrola, “a leading company, is committed to seeking alliances with another Basque company such as Haizea Wind”.
“The attitude of weaving agreements with other firms in our territory is very important so that we can continue advancing,” Urkullu concluded. EFE