The power purchase agreement of the three wind farms which have a combined capacity of 163MW is for the next decade
Iberdrola’s CEO, Ignacio Galán, Credit: Iberdrola website
Iberdrola has acquired three onshore wind farms in Poland in a financial agreement with CEE Equity Partners, an investment advisor for Chinese funds exploring opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe. The three wind farms have a combined capacity of 163MW and the power purchase agreement has been drawn up for the next decade. Two of the wind projects have already begun operations while the third is under construction.
Commenting on the acquisition, Iberdrola said: “The transaction is in line with the Iberdrola’s growth strategy in countries with an ‘A’ rating (amounting for over 75% of its Ebitda in 2020) and ambitious renewables targets: Poland plans to have 23% of its energy mix from clean energy by 2030 and commission 8,000 MW of offshore wind capacity in this decade. This new acquisition also boosts the company’s renewables Baltic Sea Hub which will act as a centre for offshore and onshore services, as well as providing local content for Iberdrola’s projects in the Germany-Poland-Sweden axis. The Baltic has an offshore wind development potential of 93,000 MW, of which 28,000 MW would be located in Polish waters.”
Iberdrola has been on an active campaign to expand its operations in the Baltic region. Late last year, the company signed an agreement to purchase a majority stake in Sea Wind, a Swedish offshore wind development company that has a pipeline of 7 projects. Assuming they will all be successfully operational on time, Iberdrola gained a projected capacity of 7.3GW with the agreement.
Poland holds special significance in Iberdrola’s expansion roadmap. A large majority of Poland’s electricity comes from coal. Under pressure from the EU to accelerate decarbonisation, the country has been reaching out to renewable energy giants across the world for collaborations. The Polish parliament has also been working on an Offshore Wind Act and has stated that the first Polish offshore wind project will be operational by 2025. By 2040, it wants to develop a total capacity of 10GW. Poland’s potential for offshore wind projects has been noticed by other international players. Danish energy companies Orsted and PGE have been negotiating with the Polish government to finalise various development deals.
