By : Dr. Franyi Sarmiento, Ph.D., Inspenet, March 18, 2022
The first wind turbines in the Mediterranean Sea begin to appear on the Italian coast. Once completed, this wind farm located in Puglia, will be extended in front of the port of Taranto.
“Accelerated investment in renewable energy remains the only long-term strategy,” Prime Minister Mario Draghi said last week in Parliament. The country aims to stop using Russian gas by 2025. As the war continues in Ukraine, the Italian government has given the green light to six new onshore wind farms, from Sardinia to Basilicata, while pledging to unlock “several tens of gigawatts of offshore wind power.”
Offshore projects are more complex: the average depth of the Mediterranean waters is much greater than in other regions such as the North Sea, which makes installations anchored on the seabed more complex and expensive.
However, the invention of floating turbines increased its potential. France has just launched the first tender for a floating offshore wind farm, and other Mediterranean countries, such as Greece and Spain, are also considering it, according to the WindEurope association.
Once completed, the Beleolico park in Taranto will have ten turbines capable of supplying 21,000 homes. Renexia, the company that manages the park, also has a project for a floating park of 190 wind turbines off the coast of Sicily, which could supply energy to 3.4 million families and create hundreds of jobs. The Beleolico project is expected to be finally operational in May.
Sources : AFP / https://news.eseuro.com/business/316907.html
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