The Italian government, through the Ministry for Environment and Energy Security, has approved the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of a new offshore wind farm that will be built in the waters off Sicily.
The EIA approval for the 7SeasMed Floating Offshore Wind Project is the first EIA approval for a floating offshore wind project in Italy.
Danish construction company Copenhagen Offshore Partners (COP) will serve as the lead developer for the project owned by a consortium that includes Italian renewable energy joint venture company GreenIT and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP).
The 7SeasMed project site will be located approximately 35 kilometres off the coast of Marsala. Once operational, it will have an output of 250 MW to provide power for up to 70,000 homes, or around five per cent of Sicily's total electricity consumption.
The 7SeasMed wind farm is part of a larger offshore wind portfolio in Italy owned by the GreenIT and CIP partnership, and of which COP serves as lead development partner. The portfolio also includes three wind farms in Sardinia and a fourth in Latium.
