Falck Renewables and BlueFloat Energy plan 675MW floating offshore wind farm off southern Italy

Italian developer Falck Renewables and floating specialist BlueFloat Energy have revealed plans for a 45-turbine, 675MW floating offshore wind farm off Catanzaro in Calabria, southern Italy. 

The newly announced 675MW Minervia Energia Minervia Energia (675MW) OffshoreGulf of Squillace, off Catanzaro, Calabria, Italy, Europe Click to see full details project boosts their pipeline for offshore wind farms in Italy to nearly 3.2GW.

The wind farm would be sited in the Gulf of Squillace, 13-29km off the coast, with annual production of about 2.4TWh. The firms say the development could also help to produce up to 45,000 tonnes of green hydrogen a year.

The joint venture filed for a maritime concession in early December and has started consultations in preparation for submitting an environmental impact assessment.

Falck Renewables and BlueFloat Energy announced plans in October for their second Italian offshore wind farm, the 1300MW Odra Energia Odra Energia (1300MW) Offshoreoff Province of Lecce, Apulia, Italy, Europe Click to see full details project, off the coast of Lecce, in Apulia, southern Italy. This followed proposals in September for their first project, the 1200MW Kailia Energia Kailia Energia (1200MW) Offshoreoff Brindisi, Apulia, Italy, Europe Click to see full details project, off Brindisi in Apulia.

Italy currently has no operational offshore wind power capacity, although the ministry for the ecological transition in June sought expressions of interest for developing floating offshore wind projects. Renexia’s 30MW Port of Taranto Port of Taranto (30MW) Offshoreoff Taranto, Apulia, Italy, Europe Click to see full details wind farm is due on line in 2022.

Falck Renewables currently has 1.4GW of global installed renewables capacity. The firm has four operational onshore wind farms in Italy, two in the south of the mainland of 52MW and 80MW, one in Sardinia of 69MW and one in Sicily of 22MW.

Madrid-based BlueFloat Energy is also partnering with Falck Renewables and Ørsted in developing offshore wind projects in Scotland, and with Spanish engineering and technology group Sener in developing 1GW of offshore wind off the coast of Catalonia in north-east Spain.