Through its UK subsidiary Scottish Power, Iberdrola has undertaken to invest £6 billion in developing an offshore wind complex – the 3 GW East Anglia Hub. It will be the company's biggest investment anywhere in the world and one of the largest offshore wind projects worldwide.
Iberdrola's chairman, Ignacio Galán, announced this undertaking at the Global Investment Summit which took place two weeks before the start of COP26 in Glasgow, UK. He confirmed that, subject to obtaining the necessary permits, this new investment package will join a record £10 bn investment earmarked by the group in its 2020-2025 plan, enabling it to double its renewable generation capacity and help drive decarbonisation in the UK.
"This meeting has given us the impetus we need to speed up the Net Zero commitments ahead of COP26", commented Mr Galán. "It also supports the British government's plan to ramp up investment in 'green' industries”. He added that "we are fully committed to fulfilling our role in this process, and our £6bn investment in East Anglia Hub will be a significant step toward ensuring that offshore wind is able to produce enough clean energy to power all the households in the UK by 2030".
East Anglia Hub consists of three wind farms off the Suffolk coast: East Anglia 1 North, East Anglia 2 and East Anglia 3. The complex will contribute more than 7.5% to the target of 40 GW of installed power in the UK by 2030.
Currently, the East Anglia 3 project, with an installed power of 1400 MW, has already secured planning permission. Planning permission applications for East Anglia 1 North (800 MW) and East Anglia 2 (900 MW) are being analysed by the Secretary of State at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Subject to the outcome, it is expected that construction work on the East Anglia Hub will start in 2023 and will be complete by 2026.
