Rising costs prompt Equinor to give up Iberian offshore wind dream
Norwegian oil giant already had scrapped wind at sea plans for Vietnam and may exit more countries
Equinor has given up its plans for offshore wind in Spain and Portugal and could exit from more countries to save costs, the Norwegian oil giant’s head of renewables, Pal Eitrheim, said in Stavanger, Norway.
“It's getting more and more expensive, and we think things are going to take more time in quite a few markets around the world.”
Costs in offshore wind have risen substantially because of component cost inflation, supply-chain delays and more expensive financing due to rising interest rates.
Spain’s government has been slow to make its plans for wind at sea more concrete, and building wind farms off its coast is more expensive than in northern Europe as waters off Spain are very deep – both in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic – making less mature floating wind the technology of choice.
Equinor despite opting out of some offshore wind markets is maintaining its target to reach up to 16GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030, Eitrheim confirmed, but added: "I'm not building 12 to 16 GW if that is at the expense of profitability."