The renewable energy developer Galileo and the Italy-based company Hope Group have formed a joint venture to develop a 525 MW floating offshore wind project in Apulia, off the Adriatic coast of southern Italy.
The Lupiae Maris offshore wind plant will be powered by 35 wind turbines of 15 MW each, installed on floating foundations. The plant is expected to produce 1.5 TWh/year, enough to power around 500,000 Italian households and replace about 150 mcm/year of natural gas imports.
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).