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Iberdrola Signs Option for Stakes in Swedish Offshore Wind Farms

Iberdrola Signs Option for Stakes in Swedish Offshore Wind Farms

Iberdrola SA signed an agreement that gives it the option to take majority stakes in a number of Swedish offshore wind farm developments that would drastically increase its market share in wind parks at sea.

The Spanish utility could take majority ownership in as many as eight projects developed by Svea Vind Offshore AB, a company spokesperson said. The deal is the latest in a series of renewables acquisitions Iberdrola has made around the world this year as part of a 10-billion euro ($11.3 billion) investment push.

The eight offshore wind farm sites, with a total capacity of 9 gigawatts, are located in relatively shallow waters in the Baltic Sea. The company expects the first of the wind farms to become operational by 2029.

Sweden has just over 200 megawatts of installed offshore wind and BloombergNEF doesn’t expect that much more capacity to be built this decade. With lots of hydro and nuclear power, the Nordic market currently has the lowest power prices in Europe. That means offshore farms would likely need some kind of government subsidy to make them economically viable, according to BNEF.

Still, Iberdrola is targeting the area as part of a broader push to build up a cluster of wind parks in the Baltic Sea. The company already owns the 476-megawatt Baltic Eagle project in Germany and is pursuing a pipeline of as much as 3.3 gigawatts off the Polish coast.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.