Group Outlines Plan for Three Italian Offshore Wind Projects
An Italy-based renewable energy group said it will develop three floating offshore wind projects over the next several years that will provide about 2 GW of power generation capacity to the country.
GreenIT, a joint venture between Plenitude and CDP Equity, part of CDP Group, on March 22 announced an agreement for design and construction of the facilities. Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), though its Flagship Funds arm, also is part of the development team. The new installations have been sited about 19 miles off the coasts of Italian regions Latium and Sardinia.
Plenitude is the renewable energy arm of Eni, a global oil and gas major. Eni earlier this month said it would work with Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., or ADNOC, on renewable energy projects in the United Arab Emirates. The group in January of this year announced development of its first two offshore wind projects for Italy.
Offshore Wind in Italy
The International Trade Association earlier this year, citing data from Italian wind energy association ANEV, said Italy has the potential to install as much as 5.5 GW of offshore wind generation capacity by 2030. Projects in the country’s pipeline include the GreenIT installations, along with builds from Falck Renewables, Seawind, Energia Wind 2020, Renexia, and Agnes.
The agreement announced Wednesday includes development of a project in Latium, off the coast of Civitavecchia, for a total capacity up to 540 MW. The other two projects would be locared off the coast of Olbia in Sardinia, with capacity of 500 MW and 1,000 MW, respectively. The projects are expected to enter commercial operation between 2028 and 2031.
GreenIT said the partnership’s offshore wind portfolio in Italy, including the new projects, will reach about 3 GW, with annual output of about 7 TWh of renewable energy. The group in its announcement said the projects are aligned with the decarbonization objectives of Italy’s 2030 National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan.
Copenhagen Offshore Partners, the offshore wind development partner of CIP, will work with Italy-based companies NiceTechnology and 7 Seas Wind Power on construction of the projects. Those groups have previously collaborated with GreenIT to deploy two other wind farms in Sardinia and Sicily.
Earlier Projects
Plenitude in January said it would build two offshore wind projects, with total capacity of 1.3 GW, off the coasts of Otranto and Crotone in Italy. Plenitude CEO Stefano Goberti at the time said, “With this partnership Plenitude expands its portfolio of floating wind projects in line with its target of reaching 15 GW of renewable capacity by 2030 and reaffirms its commitment to creating an offshore wind supply chain in Italy. For Plenitude, offshore wind is a key contributor to the energy transition path and the achievement of our 2040 carbon neutrality targets to provide fully decarbonized energy to our customers.”
Italian developer Renexia last year completed the country’s first utility-scale offshore wind farm off the coast of Taranto in the Apulia region. The company also is building the 1-GW Med Wind floating wind farm in the Strait of Sicily, which is expected online by 2025.
—Darrell Proctor is a senior associate editor for POWER (@POWERmagazine).