Maritime Spaces Defined for Offshore Wind in the Canary Islands

The Council of Ministers has today approved the Maritime Spatial Planning, a regulation that serves as a strategic cross-cutting instrument allowing authorities and stakeholders to apply a coordinated, integrated, and cross-border approach, enabling optimal use of maritime space, reducing conflicts, and enhancing coexistence and synergies. It also presents itself as a useful tool to ensure the protection of ecosystems, habitats, and sensitive and vulnerable species, including those protected by regional, national, or supranational regulations.

The Maritime Cluster of the Canary Islands values the approval of this MSP as “very positive,” as it will allow for the sustainable development of offshore wind in the Canary Islands, coexisting with other activities such as fishing, coastal tourism, or port activities.

Offshore wind will be one of the emerging sectors that will shape the roadmap for renewable energies in the Canary Islands, just as it will in the rest of the world. The archipelago will be one of the key players in the national and international development of this new energy sector.

The approval of the MSP establishes the foundations for the development of offshore wind facilities in the Canary Islands, which has a dual aspect. The first is to provide the Canary Islands with renewable energy, through the implementation of the first offshore wind farms in Spain; and the second, no less important, is to consolidate the Canary Islands as a hub for the assembly and manufacturing of wind turbine structures for other surrounding areas.

This situation will allow, on one hand, to emphasize the supply chain required for this type of installations, where the Canary Islands have local companies specialized in the entire process, highly qualified professionals, and extensive know-how from the ship repair and oil & gas sectors. On the other hand, given the scale of the projects, the sector will be an important generator of qualified employment and wealth for the islands.

In addition to the expected impact on the local economy and job creation, there is also the attraction of investments for the development of offshore wind.

In this context, the participation of the local business fabric is essential for the success of these projects. Local companies must be able to participate in the different phases of the project, from construction and installation to maintenance and management of the offshore wind farms, as well as the logistics of transporting materials.

This participation will not only create jobs but will also generate knowledge and allow for the export of both to the development of similar projects outside the Canary Islands, not to mention that there is already a significant number of Canary Islands companies specialized in environmental assessment, marine technologies, project loading, port logistics, and much more, that are currently providing services to wind farms internationally, generating knowledge and experience in this field, and that will be the driving vehicle for the development of these projects, increasing their competitiveness internationally, and enhancing the possibility of participating in other similar projects in other parts of the world.

In this regard, the Maritime Cluster of the Canary Islands has been focusing part of its activity for several years “on enhancing the international market presence of the Canary Islands business fabric and designing strategies that promote the professional qualification required by this new emerging sector.”

The Canary Islands have the necessary port infrastructures to accommodate the demands of offshore wind, which requires large areas in ports, such as those available at the Port of Las Palmas and the Port of Granadilla, and logistics operators with extensive experience in the transport, loading, and unloading of large structures and parts, acquired in the oil platform repair sector, easily adaptable to this new offshore wind segment.

Additionally, this region has internationally prestigious research centers such as the Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN), the Technological Institute of the Canary Islands (ITC), which, along with the universities of Las Palmas and La Laguna, contribute their research and knowledge to consolidate the business development of the Canary Islands in this segment.

Photo: provided