Iberdrola names contractor for Victoria offshore wind project, but says near term focus is on batteries in Australia

Global energy giant Iberdrola has named a marine services contractor for its Gippsland offshore wind project, at a time when the Spanish developer says it is putting most of its near-time focus on battery storage in Australia. 

Norwegian company Global Maritime Australia will handle ocean-bound support for the 3 gigawatt (GW) Aurora Green project, with the first job being attending the installation of a LiDAR buoy.

The news is a positive endorsement by Iberdrola for its offshore project in Australia, and for the Gippsland offshore zone, where all of the 11 proposals currently holding feasibility licences are expected to become fledged projects.

But it’s also a future-proofing outlier, given Iberdrola’s strategic plan until 2028 for Australia is to focus on investing in storage. 

Iberdrola recently held its Capital Markets Day where it outlined a new global focus on network investments, and the certainty of regulated returns, although it will continue with renewable and storage projects in some key countries.

“(It) does indeed outline a strategy to increase networks investment,” an Iberdrola spokesperson told Renew Economy. 

“It also focuses on storage and renewables where projects are in priority markets, including Australia. The Capital Markets Day time horizon is to 2028, over which period Iberdrola Australia is focused on batteries. 

“These storage projects support our diversified wind and solar fleet, enabling us to serve customers [with] firm supplies of green energy. Iberdrola Australia remains fully committed to its wind and solar projects and our integrated renewables strategy.”

But Australia is also small fry within the global company, with €5 billion ($A8.9 billion) of a €58 billion budget from now to 2028 allocated to “other EU & Australia”. 

Iberdrola has 11 battery projects in Australia at some point in the development cycle, which was described in an investor call last week as “profitable”.

It operates the Lake Bonney battery next to its wind farm, and is currently commissioning the 65 megawatt (MW), 130 megawatt hour (MWh) Smithfield battery next to an existing gas power plant in NSW, and is building the 180 MW, 360 MWh Broadsound solar farm battery in Queensland.. 

The remaining battery projects are all earlier stage.

Iberdrola is also seeking out network investments in Australia, leading a consortium pitching to become the network operator for the proposed New England Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) in northern NSW, as well as the $4 billion VNI West transmission line linking NSW and Victoria.

Longer term, the developer also has nine wind projects in the wings. Five of these have has development applications approved already – and of those three are in the increasingly tortured state of Queensland where wind projects are facing pushback from the Liberal state government. 

Globally, the company has been selling off assets to refocus on network investments in the UK and the US. 

Three weeks ago it got out of Hungary, selling its whole business there of a 158 MW of wind farm for €171.2 million. Earlier this year it sold a smart meter business in the UK, and sold its 15 projects in Mexico in August.