A delegation from the Canary Islands government and businessmen from the islands visited the Navantia Seanergies facilities in Fene this Friday to take an interest in its capabilities in the development of offshore wind structures. The Canary Islands is one of the High Potential Offshore Wind Energy Zones (ZAPER) according to the Royal Decree regulating the production of electricity from renewable sources located in the sea.
On the Spanish coast, offshore wind energy will be developed through floating platforms, a field in which Navantia Seanergies is a pioneer, with its participation in three projects in wind farms in the United Kingdom and Portugal from the Fene and Puerto Real facilities. Navantia’s green energy division also stands out for its role as a driving force in the offshore wind industry, a role that is reinforced with this dialogue.
“We are facing a national opportunity where Navantia Seanergies is a driving force and is committed to supporting the Canary Islands industry for the development of offshore wind in the area,” emphasized Manuel Bermúdez de Castro, Director of Foundations and Offshore Platforms at Navantia Seanergies, during the visit. He also highlighted Navantia’s decade-long trajectory in green energy and the ongoing investment in the transformation of the Fene shipyard to meet the requirements of offshore wind.
The tour was attended by the Deputy Minister of Economy and Internationalization of the Government of the Canary Islands, Gustavo González de Vega; the Deputy Minister of Ecological Transition, Fight against Climate Change, and Energy, Julieta Schallenberg; as well as representatives from the Port Authorities of Tenerife and Las Palmas, the public company for business internationalization Proexca (Canarian Society for Economic Promotion), the Maritime Cluster of the Canary Islands, and associations of port companies, the metal industry, ship repairs, and small and medium enterprises. From Navantia, Carlos Pascual, Head of the Floating Platforms Program, and Ángel Fernández, Commercial Manager of Monopiles and Competitive Strategy, accompanied the delegation.
The delegation from the Canary Islands, which visited the outer port of A Coruña on Thursday, valued the experience and assistance that Navantia Seanergies can provide for the development of offshore wind energy in the islands, as well as the public-private collaboration. ‘This mission in Galicia reflects how collaboration between the public and private sectors can generate opportunities for sustainable growth. The synergy with entities such as Navantia and the Port Authority of A Coruña will be fundamental to strengthen our supply chain and develop new industrial capacities in the Canary Islands,’ said the president of the Canary Islands Federation of Port Companies, José Juan Socas. ‘The tuning of our companies is key, that is why this visit to Navantia Seanergies is fundamental to establish a roadmap that will allow us to be prepared for when the offshore wind tender becomes a reality’, shared the executive delegate of Proexca, Pablo Martín Carbajal.
Currently, the Navantia Seanergies Fene shipyard is working simultaneously on the manufacture of 45 monopiles and 62 jackets for offshore wind farms in the United Kingdom and France, respectively.