Joint venture for 525 MW floating offshore wind farm in Adriatic Sea

Galileo from Switzerland and Italy-based Hope Group formed a joint venture to develop the Lupiae Maris project for a 525 MW floating wind farm in Italy’s waters. They plan to install 35 innovative turbines in the Southern Adriatic Sea.

Galileo, a pan-European renewable energy development platform based in Switzerland, and Apulia-based Hope Group formed a joint venture to develop a floating wind power plant with a total capacity of 525 MW in Italian waters.

The project includes 35 innovative floating wind turbines in the Southern Adriatic

The project envisions the installation of 35 innovative turbines in the Southern Adriatic Sea between Brindisi and Lecce, each with a capacity of 15 MW. The project and the joint venture are called Lupiae Maris. Lupiae is the ancient Roman name of Lecce.

Lupiae Maris will produce about 1.5 TWh of electricity annually

The new offshore wind farm will produce about 1.5 TWh, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption needs of more than 500,000 households, Galileo said.

The use of floating wind turbines enables access to a deeper seabed than conventional fixed-bed turbines, so the wind farm will be located several kilometers from the coast, more than conventional offshore wind power plants could.

The companies said they would file an application for an environmental impact assessment (EIA) after the relevant studies are complete, which they expect in the next few months. The joint venture will start a detailed assessment of the offshore wind potential in the first half of 2023.

The Lupiae Maris site is exposed to stronger winds, allowing the production of electricity at a very competitive cost within the offshore wind sector in Italy, Galileo said.

Development activities on the project began in late 2020. The company said Lupiae Maris is its first investment in floating wind in Italy.

Joint venture partners

Galileo, established in 2020, has a project pipeline with an overall capacity of more than 5 GW in solar, wind, and energy storage sectors in seven European countries.

Institutional investors Infratil, Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation (CSC), New Zealand Superannuation Fund (NZ Super Fund), and Morrison and Co. Growth Infrastructure Fund (MGIF) have backed the firm with a total of EUR 220 million.

Hope Group is a new Italian company in the renewable energy sector, but it has already developed projects for 3 GW in capacity in the segments of onshore wind, offshore wind, and solar power plants, especially agrophotovoltaics or plants on exhausted mines.