The Government of Spain approves the plan for offshore wind farms for small designated sections

The SPANISH government has given the green light to start up offshore wind farms after approving the first Maritime Space Management Plan (POEM).

The POEM tries to map the coexistence of farms with activities such as fishing in addition to protecting the environment.

It is, in effect, a maritime equivalent of land-based planning constraints.

According to the first POEM map, farms can be established in 19 sections covering 5,000 m2 of territorial waters.

It means that the facilities will be restricted to only 0.46% of the sea, and the POEM will be reviewed every six years.

Except for one facility in the Canary Islands, Spain has so far not taken the offshore farm route, choosing to work out where they can be located.

The POEM was created after four years of negotiations with regional governments, as well as the fishing and tourism sectors.

The Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, said: “The plan guarantees the priority of areas that need environmental protection or are linked to national security or the safety of maritime transport.”

It will be up to the Autonomous Communities to process the applications for the installation of wind farms that can be installed in 19 ‘industrial’ maritime zones distributed along the peninsular and insular coasts.

Some areas such as the coasts of Cádiz and Huelva will not see any development due to the need to preserve biodiversity.

Spain has previously submitted plans to develop up to three gigawatts of installed capacity offshore by 2030.

Tenders are expected to be announced later this year for new projects.

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