The European renewable energy company Galileo has partnered with the Italian company Hope Group to develop a 1.1 GW floating offshore wind project in Italy’s Adriatic Sea. The Barium Bay project, which will be located 40 km from shore between the towns of Bari and Barletta (southern Italy), will be comprised of 74 turbines rated 15 MW and is expected to generate around 3 TWh/year of power. The companies’ new joint venture, Barium Bay, is currently completing the environmental and technical studies for the project, with the objective to file an environmental impact assessment (EIA) application by mid-2023.
Galileo and Hope Group are also jointly developing a 525 MW floating offshore wind project in Apulia, also located off Italy’s Adriatic coast.
Italy is aiming to cover 55% of its total electricity consumption with renewables by 2030. As of end-2021, Italy did not yet possess any operational offshore wind capacity but had more than 11 GW of onshore wind (9% of the country’s installed capacity and 7% of its power generation with 21 TWh).