Italian developer in talks with Mingyang for 2.8GW floating offshore wind project
Italian developer in talks with Mingyang for 2.8GW floating offshore wind project | Windpower Monthly
Italian developer Renexia held talks with Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Mingyang Smart Energy over its plans to build a 2.8GW floating offshore wind farm in the Mediterranean Sea.
The developer confirmed discussions with Mingyang regarding its 2.8GW Med Wind project in a post on networking site LinkedIn.
The floating offshore wind farm is planned for an area of the Mediterranean Sea around 47km west of the island of Marettimo, off Sicily, and is due online in 2029, according to Windpower Intelligence, the research and data division of Windpower Monthly.
Renexia plans to use 190 floating turbines with power ratings of up to 18MW each, according to the project’s website.
“With an expected production of 9TWh per year, Med Wind will position Italy as a European leader in the sector, also thanks to Mingyang's innovations in turbine design, which will significantly increase the efficiency and capacity of the project,” the company stated.
It confirmed on 15 July that seabed surveys for Med Wind were proceeding with deepwater technology specialist Seas Geosciences.
Renexia previously worked with Mingyang on the 30MW Beleolico offshore wind farm in southern Italy, which became the Mediterranean’s first offshore wind farm and Europe’s first offshore wind project to feature Chinese turbines when it was commissioned in 2022.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: hydropower
Hydropower — electricity generated by turbines capturing energy from moving water — was for many years the primary contributor of renewable energy to the U.S. electricity grid. Its growth was rapid into the 1970s, and since then has offered a stable supply of power, while a declining share of all generation. For many years, hydropower was seen as clean energy and an unalloyed good, but a greater understanding of the impact of dams on ecosystems and wildlife has led to the removal of some dams. As of 2019, hydropower trails wind as a renewable source of power generation.