Portugal now aims to spur 10GW of offshore wind from a first auction to be held next year, its environment minister said in the latest escalation of the Iberian nation’s ambitions.
Duarte Cordeiro said the double-digit goal reflects the need to speed up Portugal’s energy transition, according to news agency Reuters.
The 10GW marks a new jump on a previous 6-8GW target for the first round which itself was almost double the total originally signalled at the start of the year, it was reported.
"We have urgency and we're going to accelerate everything that is renewable. We want to launch a large offshore wind auction and our ambition now is to reach 10GW of capacity", Cordeiro was quoted telling a parliamentary committee, adding that details were still being prepared.
The deep waters off Portugal and neighbouring Spain are set to become hugely important locations for future floating wind development.
Portugal is already a pioneer of floating wind thanks to the EDP Renewables-led 25MW three-turbine WindFloat Atlantic array that has been operating off Viana do Castelo since 2020.
Earlier this week Irish floating wind outfit Simply Blue Group and Spanish players Proes Consultores and FF New Energy Ventures launched a joint venture called IberBlue Wind that aims to prepare some 2GW of floating offshore wind projects for taking part in upcoming tenders in Spain and Portugal.
IberBlue Wind’s vice president Adrián de Andrés during the launch pointed to “the potential for Spain and Portugal to become world leaders in offshore wind generation, as both countries have excellent wind resources, a long history in coastal engineering and first-class public works”.
