Galileo Energy and Hope Group have received a positive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) opinion from the Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security for the 1.1 GW Barium Bay floating offshore wind farm. The project had also previously received approval from the Ministry of Culture.

Project technical parameters

• Location: Adriatic Sea, more than 45 km off the coast of the Puglia region (between the cities of Bari and Barletta).
• Capacity: 1.1 GW (74 wind turbines of 15 MW each).
• Annual generation: about 3 billion kWh.
• Infrastructure: two offshore substations on fixed foundations.

Currently, the largest operating floating wind farm is the Norwegian Hywind Tampen (88 MW), used to supply energy to Equinor oil platforms.

Next stages of implementation

After receiving the necessary permits, the project may be admitted to the competitive selection conducted by the Italian authorities. According to Francesco Dolzani, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Barium Bay and Director of Business Development of Galileo Energy in Italy, the next step will be the start of construction.

Economic aspects

The implementation of the project will require investments of several billion euros and will create several thousand jobs.

Prospects for floating wind power in Italy

In addition to Barium Bay, Italy plans to build a larger floating wind farm Med Wind (2.8 GW) off the coast of Sicily. For this project, the Chinese company Mingyang is to supply turbines with a capacity of 18.8 MW each.

The development of floating wind power plants allows the use of deep-water areas where the installation of fixed foundations is impossible. This is especially relevant for countries with limited shelf areas, such as Italy.