The Spanish Asociación Empresarial Eólica (AEE), together with Enerclub, hosted a bilateral meeting between Spain and UK on the subject of offshore wind power on June 5th.
Lord Livingston, the UK Minister for Trade and Investment, was present at the meeting along with several professionals from the sector. ​​

Enrique Alvarez Uria, the Director of Offshore Projects for EDP Renewables (EDPR), highlighted the latest news in offshore wind power at EDPR, namely the company's entry in the French marine wind power sector. He also discussed the differences between the French projects and the situation in the UK, where EDPR is developing two offshore wind projects that are already at an advanced stage, at Moray Firth and Inch Cape. "Our number one priority is to meet all of the requirements in order to obtain a tariff-setting permit this year. For this reason, the EDPR team is working to meet the criteria that the UK regulators have set before approval can be granted," he stated.

The main challenges of offshore wind energy were discussed during the meeting: investment costs, financing, logistics and transportation. The group also discussed the opportunities that offshore wind offers to boost Europe's industrial capacity. Lord Livingston encouraged Spanish business leaders to contribute their specialized knowledge of the energy sector in light of the opportunities that have arisen from the development of technologies like offshore wind power. The UK currently has 17 wind farms, with an installed capacity of 2,700 megawatts (MW), which accounts for almost half of the installed worldwide capacity.