Pioneering Italian floating wind projects line up Saipem platform
Divento signs agreement as Italy lays plans for building out total 4.6GW of projects
Italian contracting giant Saipem has signed a collaboration agreement covering potential application of its STAR 1 semi-submersible foundation technology for floating wind on two projects vying for business in Italy’s first competitive offshore renewables tender.
The pact was signed with Divento, a joint venture between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, GreenIT, 7 Seas Wind Power and NiceTechnology and covers the proposed 252MW 7 Seas Med project in Sicily and the 504MW Ichnusa Wind Power project in Sardinia.
GreenIT is itself a renewables joint venture formed between Plenitude, a clean energy enterprise controlled by Italian oil company Eni and CDP Equity.
Eni is also joint controller of Saipem, along with CDP Equity.
Under the Divento agreement, Saipem’s floating wind technology will underpin planned bids in Italy’s first ever offshore renewables tender under what is known as the Fer2 Decree procedure.
The 7 Seas Med floating wind project, to be located over 35km from the coast in the Strait of Sicily, was the first such project receive an environmental compatibility decree from Italy's Ministry of Environment and Energy Security.
The Ichnusa Wind Power project will be developed about 40km from the south-western coast of Sardinia.
Both initiatives are in the development phase and awaiting full definition of the regulatory framework for Italy’s first auctions for innovative renewables technologies, including floating offshore wind.
Saipem was selected as technology provider for the two projects after a competitive technical-economic feasibility procedure.
The contractor, which has decades of experience in the design, construction and installation of subsea infrastructures for the oil industry, claims that its floating wind hull will provide “a light industrial solution which is easy to build, assemble and maintain”.
“Saipem is a global company with great experience in the implementation of subsea EPCI projects, a strategic requirement to accelerate our projects,” said Kunal Patel, a partner of CIP.
"Floating offshore wind can play an important role both for the Italian industry and for the production of safe and renewable energy. We therefore await clarifications on the CfD system for floating offshore wind, which is essential to allow this potential to materialise."
Divento has five floating offshore wind projects under development in Italy and states that it has the ambition to pioneer floating offshore wind in the Mediterranean and become a key player in the Italian market
"This agreement (with Saipem) further strengthens the development of our 7 Seas Med and Ichnusa projects, which are at the forefront of floating offshore wind in Italy,” said Paolo Bellucci, CEO of GreenIT.
The process will promote the construction of renewable energy projects using technologies that are not fully mature or have high operating costs.
The objective of Decree FER2 is to provide incentives of the buildout of 4.6GW of new projects by the end of December 2028, including fixed-bottom and floating offshore wind farms, floating solar, tidal, wave and other marine energies, as well as geothermal energy, and thermodynamic solar projects. CfDs will also be awarded to biogas and biomass production projects through the same scheme.
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