The new regulatory framework that will regulate the implementation of offshore wind energy in Spain will be released for public consultation before the end of the year, as announced this Tuesday by the Secretary of State for Energy, Sara Aagesen, at the inauguration of the second Offshore Wind Congress in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Aagesen expressed the Spanish Government's willingness to give this regulation a "very agile processing", so that the first tenders can be held in 2024.
Despite the complex context that has prevented this new regulation from being available sooner, in her opinion, Spain, "which is the country of innovation, with open sea testing platforms, such as the Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands, will not be late".
"We are still ahead in the chain of this great opportunity offered by offshore wind power and, although it will depend on the promoters, the Canary Islands have many possibilities of having the first park in Spain," she said.
The former Minister of Ecological Transition of the previous Canary Islands executive, JosAntonio Valbuena, committed that, as foreseen in the Canary Islands Energy Transition Plan (PTECAN), offshore wind power will only be developed in the southeast of Gran Canaria, the only island that will meet the technical requirements regarding storage, thanks to the commissioning of the Salto de Chira.
Valbuena explained then that the Government of Spain had to delimit the areas, including Lanzarote, by European mandate, but this does not mean that offshore wind energy has to be developed compulsorily in all the areas ordered in the maritime space management plans (POEM).
