Under the deal the two companies will compete for two of the five zones to be offered in the forthcoming tender for up to 3GW of offshore power: St-Brieuc (500MW) and St-Nazaire (750MW). Areva will act as sole supplier to the projects, offering its M5000 turbine, while Iberdrola will contribute its extensive offshore expertise.
Keith Anderson, Chief Executive of Iberdrola’s Global Offshore Division, said "the development of offshore wind projects is one of the key areas of growth for Iberdrola Renewables."
This is only the second time Iberdrola has hooked up with a turbine manufacturer for the offshore market. Earlier this month, the company announced that Siemens would supply up to 108 of its 3.6MW turbines for the West Duddon Sands project off the Scottish coast at a price tag of nearly EUR700 million. Iberdrola co-owns the project with Dong Energy.
For its part, earlier this year Areva signed another partnership agreement with GDF Suez and Vinci to compete in the three remaining zones: Fécamp (500MW), Le Tréport (750MW) and Courseulles (500MW).
The offshore tender, originally to be launched at the end of last year, is now expected towards the middle of July. It marks the first phase towards a planned 6GW of offshore capacity by 2020.
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