Two new floating wind applications filed for Tyrrhenian Sea, one for 3+ GW project

Two companies have submitted applications to the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport for maritime concessions in the Tyrrhenian Sea, offshore Sardinia, where they plan to build floating wind farms. One of the projects is proposed to have an installed capacity of more than 3 GW.

According to documents put to public consultation by the Ministry and Olbia Port Authority, a company called Nurax Wind Power and a company called Zefiro Vento, both registered in Milan, have each requested a 30-year concession for an area north-east of Sardinia with plans to install floating wind turbines.

Both applications were submitted in May, according to the notices published by Olbia Port Authority, which made the proposals available for public comment in June.

Zefiro Vento has applied for concession rights for a 431,817-acre area in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the northeastern coast of Sardinia, about 20 kilometres from Olbia.

There, the company wants to install around 210 wind turbines of a 15 MW output each that would make up a 3,150 MW floating wind farm which would also comprise four substations.

The project would connect to the grid on land at a substation in Pittulongu, in the Municipality of Olbia.

The other company with similar plans for the area north-east of Sardinia, Nurax Wind Power, has requested rights for 2.5 square kilometres of the Tyrrhenian Sea to build a 462 MW floating wind farm.

Nurax Wind’s project would be built 35 kilometres from the coast and would comprise 33 wind turbines of a 14 MW output, and an offshore substation.

These are the latest floating wind proposals to be put to public consultation by Olbia Port Authority, with several more floating wind projects proposed to be built in the area.

Also in May, the Falck Renewables-BlueFloat Energy partnership filed an application for a maritime concession for a site off the northeastern coast of Sardinia, where the two companies plan to build a 975 MW floating wind farm, called Tibula Energia.

A few months earlier, Falck and BlueFloat announced plans for two floating wind farms in the Tyrrhenian Sea, offshore southern Sardinia (in the Gulf of Cagliari), which together would have a total of around 1.4 GW of installed capacity.

The Italian company Repower Renewable has also applied for a concession for the construction and operation of a floating wind farm in the territorial sea area offshore the southern coast of Sardinia. The 495 MW project is proposed to be installed off the coats of the Municipality of Sarroch.

Last year, the country’s Ministry of Ecological Transition received Expressions of Interest (EoIs) to build floating wind farms in Italian waters from 64 developers.

Of these, 55 EoIs were received from companies and business associations, including Copenhagen Offshore Partners, DEME Offshore, Eni SpA, Falck Renewables, Fincantieri SpA, Fred. Olsen Renewables, Renexia, Ocean Winds, Principle Power, RWE Renewables, Saipem, Vestas, and others.

Three EoIs were received from environmental protection associations WWF, Legambiente, and Greenpeace.

In total, 40 floating offshore wind projects were examined. More than 20 projects are located off the coast of Sicily and Sardinia, more than ten along the Adriatic coast, with the remainder distributed between the Ionian and Tyrrhenian Seas.

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