Capital Energy, a Spanish renewable energy firm, has expressed interest in developing three floating offshore wind farms with a combined capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW) off the coast of Portugal. The Portuguese environmental agency, APA, confirmed that Capital Energy has submitted requests for preliminary environmental analyses for these projects.

Portugal has recently made strides in its offshore wind sector, with the government announcing plans to auction 2 GW of offshore wind capacity later this year. This decision was prompted by significant interest and investment in the sector.

The proposed floating wind farms will be situated in deep waters along Portugal's central and northern coastlines. These locations are known for their consistent and strong winds, making them ideal for offshore wind energy production. Two of the farms will each feature 40 wind turbines, generating 600 MW of power per farm, while the third park will comprise 51 wind turbines with a total capacity of 765 MW.

The primary goal of these projects is to supply electricity to the national grid operator, REN, while any surplus energy will be directed towards green hydrogen production. Portugal already boasts a small-scale floating wind project called Windfloat Atlantic, with a capacity of 25 MW. This initiative is owned by Ocean Winds, a joint venture between Portugal's main utility, EDP, and French company Engie.

Aside from Capital Energy, several other energy companies and consortia have demonstrated interest in Portugal's offshore wind sector, including BayWa from Germany, the Irish-Spanish consortium IberBlue Wind, fund manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, and a partnership between Portuguese oil company Galp and France's TotalEnergies. Portugal's ambitious offshore wind plans aim to conduct successive auctions, reaching a total capacity of 10 GW by 2030.