Saipem, Divento Team Up for Two Mediterranean Floating Wind Projects

(Credit: Divento)

Saipem and Divento partnership have signed a collaboration agreement involving the application of STAR 1, Saipem's proprietary technology for floating wind, for two planned offshore wind projects in the Mediterranean Sea.

Divento is a partnership between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), GreenIT, a joint venture between Eni’s Plenitude and CDP Equity (CDP Group), 7 Seas Wind Power and NiceTechnology,

The agreement will support the participation of 7 Seas Med projects in Sicily and Ichnusa Wind Power in Sardinia in the first auctions for Italian government’s incentives to be allocated for innovative renewable energy plants and those featuring innovating and reduced impacts on the environment and the land.

Saipem was selected after a competitive technical-economic feasibility procedure.

STAR 1 is a technology developed for the making of semi-submersible floating wind foundations, said to be able to offer a light industrial solution, easy to build, assemble and maintain.

The 7 Seas Med floating wind project, located in the Strait of Sicily over 35 km from the coast, with a capacity of 252 MW and a yearly production of about 800 GWh, is the first of its kind in Italy to receive the environmental compatibility decree from the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security.

Ichnusa Wind Power is a project that will be developed by the namesake company about 40 km from the south-western coast of Sardinia, with a capacity of 504 MW and a yearly production of about 1.6 TWh of renewable energy.

Both initiatives are in the development phase and awaiting the completion of the definition of the regulatory framework for the first auctions for Italian innovative renewables technologies, among which is the floating offshore wind.

"This agreement further strengthens the development of our 7 Seas Med and Ichnusa projects, which are at the forefront of floating offshore wind in Italy. Together with Saipem, Divento could act as a pioneer, facilitating the dissemination of local expertise and the construction of logistics infrastructures, fostering the growth of this new and important industrial sector in our country,” said Paolo Bellucci, CEO of GreenIT.

"We are pleased to announce this collaboration with Saipem for our floating offshore wind projects in Italy. Saipem is a global company with great experience in the implementation of subsea EPCI projects, a strategic requirement to accelerate our projects.

“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 materialize", added Kunal Patel, Partner of CIP.