Haizea Wind grows in the Port of Bilbao with orders for 1,500 million euros

by time news

The Lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu, was in charge of presiding this Wednesday over the laying of the first stone for the new Haizea Wind facilities in the Port of Bilbao, the company dedicated to manufacturing support structures for offshore wind turbines, which will allow it to expand considerably its production capacity. The company began its first steps of production in mid-2018, will now invest 150 million euros in the expansion and has guaranteed orders for an amount of 1,500 million euros, which represent a workload for the next four years. The act was also used to sign a new contract with Iberdrola – attended by the president of the electricity company, Ignacio Galán -, for the supply of 50 monopiles that will equip the East Anglia Three offshore wind farm off the coast of the United Kingdom.

Until now, Haizea occupied almost 50,000 square meters in the Port and, thanks to an extension of the concession, it will have four times that area, which will allow it to build three new production pavilions, as well as a storage area. Its location on the docks is strategic since it facilitates the loading of the monopiles -1,500 tons in weight each- on the ships that transport them to their final destination in the marine parks.

With this expansion, Haizea Bilbao, which currently has 500 workers, will create 350 new direct jobs and consolidates its growth project in a sector, marine electricity generation, which has a great future thanks to the energy transition .

Support from Iberdrola

The new contract signed today by Iberdrola will mean a turnover of 200 million euros for the company and is also a gesture by the electricity company to support the Basque industry. This contract is in addition to the one signed last September with the Norwegian company Orsted and both have been the basis on which the need to expand the facilities has arisen. Urkullu, in a brief speech, referred to the importance of “two companies in the territory joining forces, because our society wins.” Along the same lines and after thanking Iberdrola for committing to purchasing from Basque suppliers, the lehendakari highlighted “the weight it has had, has and will always have in the economy and well-being of the Basque Country”.

This company is a sample of the opportunities offered by the energy transition. But opportunities do not arise on their own and understanding is needed between companies and the Administration”, the president of Iberdrola Ignacio Galán pointed out at the ceremony. “Bilbao is kilometer zero for clean energy, but there is a lot of work ahead to increase energy self-sufficiency in Europe. It is important to create a virtuous circle of investment, training and competitiveness”, pointed out the president of the electric company.

Haizea Wind sources have indicated that they currently manufacture support structures that are a maximum of 9 meters in diameter and up to 90 meters in length, but the new wind turbines that the wind industry already produces, with a generation power of up to 20 megawatts , will require larger piles. The new Haizea facilities will allow the construction of structures up to 15 meters in diameter and 130 meters in length.

Currently, the Haizea Wind group has three plants for the production of structures for marine generators. In addition to the one located in the Port of Bilbao, it has another in France, in the port of Brest, as well as one in the Argentine town of Santa Fe.

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