Documentary on offshore wind energy
'United by the wind', the most social side of offshore wind energy
Employment Iberdrola projects Offshore wind
'United by the wind', a documentary produced by Iberdrola that shows the most social aspect of the East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm. More than twenty workers, both from the company and from several of its suppliers, tell us about the importance of teamwork, companionship and training to set up an infrastructure of this magnitude and complexity, as well as the driving effect that this development has had and has on local economies.
'United by the wind' is a documentary produced by Iberdrola on East Anglia ONE. Video voice transcription (Spanish version) [PDF] External link, opens in new window.
A diverse, multidisciplinary, international team and, above all, committed and proud of its work. These are the people who made possible what is to date the largest offshore wind farm constructed by Iberdrola group: East Anglia ONE, in operation since 2020. To present them, the company decided to produce the documentary United by the wind, which it launched within the framework of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25).
"The key to the success of the project is the team", states Álvaro Martínez director of Offshore Operations at Iberdrola. "What makes a project like this real is the enormous human effort," says Jonathan Cole, managing director of Offshore Wind Energy at ScottishPower Renewables. "Different people, of different nationalities, working together with the same purpose and in the same direction," says Charlie Jordan, project director of East Anglia ONE. "Everyone is committed to the company and the project, and that makes the difference," explains Natalia Planillo, Head of Quality. These are some of the testimonies that make up the documentary, which reflects the most human side of this development and exposes the social and economic benefits that offshore wind has both for local communities, in particular, and for industry in general.
Ignacio Galán, chairman of Iberdrola group
There are thousands of people doing professional jobs, selflessly, because they believe in what they are doing. Companies are people
A tour of the project
The documentary takes a tour of the most emblematic places of this renewable installation built in the waters of the United Kingdom:
- The offices of ScottishPower in London, Iberdrola's subsidiary in the United Kingdom.
- Bawdsey, Ipswich and Bramford, where the six underground cables run, joining two others laid along the seabed, to connect the wind farm to the national grid.
- Lowestoft, where the operations and maintenance base is located and from which the daily operations are directed.
- Lowestoft College, where employees are trained to work at sea.
- Sestao, Avilés and Fene (Spain), where the foundations for the wind turbines were made.
- The port of Great Yarmouth, where the various components of the wind turbines were brought together and then assembled at high sea.
- And East Anglia ONE itself, in the North Sea, about 50 kilometres off the coast of Suffolk County, England.
East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm
Archaeological and historical findings
The documentary also tells of two valuable findings made during the construction of East Anglia ONE:
- The excavations for the underground cable works at Woodbridge brought to light remains from the Bronze age, the Iron Age and the Roman, Anglosaxon and Medieval periods among which there was a road from the Neolithic period made by a series of wooden planks dating back to 2,300 B.C. This archaeological site cause surprise due to the quality of the heritage found, an unprecedented event in the county of Suffolk.
- Within the area of the offshore wind farm at the bottom of the sea, a World War I submarine was found which had disappeared in 1915. The submarine reportedly struck a mine on the British east coast and sank with the entire crew of 31. Its discovery yielded useful data about what happened during this historical period.
After the success of the construction and commissioning of East Anglia ONE, Iberdrola group plans to construct in the waters of the United Kingdom the offshore wind macro-complex of East Anglia Hub, which will group three projects with a total installed capacity of 3,100 MW: East Anglia ONE North, East Anglia TWO and East Anglia THREE. The works, which will involve an investment of 10 billion pounds, will start in 2023 and will continue for four years.