Eleven Spanish giants that bet by the renewable energies and the sustainability between which they are Iberdrola, Drives, Gamesa or Alstom, along with 22 research centers, form the PROJECT AZIMUTH, whose intention is to help in the development of a marine aerogenerator of great size (speaking of near 15 MW). The project, pioneer by the development of a so novel technology will count on financing and technology 100% Spanish. The project Azimuth already has been approved by the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain and according to the preliminary studies will need an economic investment near the 25 million Euros. If all march correctly the project would begin in the 2013 and would culminate with the installation of the marine aerogenerator of great size in 2020, without a doubt a great passage for the marine Aeolian energy and the Spanish technology, that could be based in the first positions in sustainable infrastructures. The main objective of this project is to try to overcome the present barriers for the development of marine aerogenerators and to compare its future cost to the one of the terrestrial aerogenerators.
In the acutalidad, the majors problems in the construction and maintenance of marine aerogenerators are bound to the availability, the laying of foundations and the evacuation of the energy to earth. Gamesa will be the company that will lead the project and on the other hand, Drives Windpower will center its efforts in developing the technology in charge of the conversion of the electrical energy. Alstom Wind will be the person in charge of the marine structures and Drives Energy of the construction and future maintenance of the marine enclave. Iberdrola on the other hand will be in charge to integrate the structure of Aeolian navy in the electrical system. The rest of participant companies will be in charge of diverse complementary tasks.