| Work Detail |
Italian renewable energy firm Renexia has signed a front-end engineering and design contract (FEED) with Aker Solutions to design the underwater substations for Med Wind, a floating wind farm in the Mediterranean Sea.
The agreement involves the design of eight modules, two for each section of the Med Wind park, to be laid on the seabed of the Strait of Sicily into which the cables of the wind farm’s floating turbines will be conveyed.
The energy produced by the rotation of the blades will then arrive on land, at the Partanna and Partinico power stations, via a system of subsea and land-based cable ducts.
This is the first time Aker Solutions has won a contract for an offshore wind project in the Mediterranean Sea. The company stated that it would execute the project in close cooperation with its alliance partner ABB.
The main reason for Renexia choosing Aker Solutions’ module was the fact that the module’s components do not require any major maintenance work for the 25 years of Med Wind’s concession.
The start of the design phase of these important elements was made possible by the results of oceanographic campaigns which showed that the project meets all sustainability criteria and aligns with the marine environment.
Med Wind will be developed in several stages and, once fully operational, will be able to produce about 9 TWh per year of clean energy, equal to the energy needs of 3.4m households and equivalent to 3% of Italy’s energy demand.
The project will help create jobs in Sicily over the six years planned for the construction of the plant and maintenance activities over the following 25 years.
“The award represents a step forward in our strategy to support international offshore wind developments in growing areas like the Mediterranean Sea,” said Jo Kjetil Krabbe, EVP of power solutions at Aker Solutions. |
