Offshore wind, operators prepare for Fer 2 auctions

Ksenia Balanda, managing director of the partnership between Nadara (formerly Falck Renewables) and Spain's BlueFloat Energy, also emphasises the costs of a technology that is 'complicated and with sizes never before considered for renewables': 'We need operating rules that incorporate these particularities.

The reference is to the Fer 2 tariffs, the publication of which is expected before the auctions in the spring: 'The tariffs (185 euro per MWh, ndr) are those of 2020, something needs to be done. Then there would be work to be done on the indexation levels, which are not comparable to those for Fer X. Inflation must be taken into account.

The Fer 2 tariffs last 25 years: it is a very long period, it penalises the industry, operators will take it as a risk that must be mitigated and protected through an appropriate price. For the first industrial-size projects, it should be possible to make economies of scale, to have more flexibility. There are instruments in other markets that work: phasing, for example. An operator proposes a single plant to be realised in 4-5 phases: he awards it all together and at the same price, then delivers it in stages'.

Nadara and BlueFloat have six floating marine wind projects in Italy off the coasts of Puglia, Calabria and Sardinia for EUR 17.5 billion of investment and 5.2 GW of installed capacity: 'The two Apulian plants, for more than 2 GW, are in the final stage of the Via, we hope to be in time to participate in the first Fer 2 auction.

There is an investment of over €7.5 billion for two wind farms, the first off the coast of Brindisi, the other in Lecce: it also includes the part related to construction, assembly, and maintenance. The hope is that the government's choice will fall on the ports of Taranto and Brindisi, both strategic for offshore wind energy".

Giulia Lo Bianco, head of Offshore Wind at BayWa r.e. Italia - a German international group that has announced 14 projects for over 9 GW and 6 billion in investments in our country at the beginning of 2024 - confirms the important moment for offshore wind energy, with the designation of strategic ports and Fer 2 pushing development: "In Sicily we have recently concluded the environmental, geophysical and geotechnical surveys for three plants, with the aim of starting construction work on the first 2 MW by 2030.

To this end, BayWa has recently submitted Via applications for two of these projects and is currently working on the Via application of a third project. The investment associated with these development efforts, thus including the carrying out of marine, acoustic, marine mammal and bird monitoring surveys, and for the preparation of environmental studies and design, amounts to more than EUR 14 million.

Lo Bianco emphasises the importance of Italy for this technology: "The activities carried out, those in progress, and the investments made by BayWa in our country, show how we firmly believe that Italy has all the cards in order to establish itself as a strategic hub of offshore wind energy in the Mediterranean, generating significant benefits in terms of environmental sustainability, economic development, and job creation for the territory.