GreenIT, the Italian joint venture formed by Plenitude, CDP Equity, and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, has officially launched Divento, a partnership dedicated to developing a 3GW portfolio of five floating offshore wind projects in Italy. Copenhagen Offshore Partners is leading the development efforts for this portfolio, collaborating with iLS and 7SeasWind Power, the original founders of the initiatives.
Once operational, the offshore plants, situated approximately 30 kilometers from the coasts of Sicily, Latium, and Sardinia, are expected to generate around 8 terawatt-hours of renewable energy annually. This output will be sufficient to meet the electricity needs of approximately 2.5 million households, aligning with Italy's decarbonisation objectives as outlined in the 2030 National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan.
Divento's projects will utilize innovative floating foundations designed to minimize environmental and visual impacts. The sites will benefit from technological and logistical synergies with other offshore wind initiatives managed under the Divento umbrella, positioning the partnership as a key player in the burgeoning floating wind sector in the Mediterranean.
Notably, Divento has already secured the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Decree for the 250MW 7Seas Med site as of March 21, 2024. This approval represents a significant milestone as it is the first EIA approval for a large offshore wind farm in the Mediterranean region.
Michele Schiavone, CEO of COP Italy, stated, “The launch of Divento, the new brand of our floating offshore wind consortium in Italy, is an important milestone for the project partners and our COP team. The partnership between consortium members has in fact been in place for nearly three years, and now under this new identity we will together continue leading and unlocking floating offshore wind technology in the Italian market.”
Michael Hannibal, Partner at Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, expressed enthusiasm for the new branding, noting, “The Italian market for floating wind has strong long-term fundamentals and the Divento consortium is ideally positioned to leverage the market opportunities.”
Alessandro Della Zoppa, Head of Renewables at Plenitude, emphasized the timely nature of Divento's launch, saying, “Our Sicilian project, 7 Seas Med, has just obtained the first large scale offshore wind EIA Decree in Italy, and we are eager to move it to the next stage. In line with the national energy targets, Divento will contribute to the development of floating offshore wind in Italy.”
Davide Manunta, CDP Equity's Head of Equity Investments & Portfolio Management, added, “CDP aims to be at the forefront of the Italian energy transition. A ‘just transition' is in our DNA and in what we do every day. Since we started back in 2022 the collaboration with our partners, we had the vision that the development of the floating offshore wind industry had huge potential for Italy, and for its positioning within the Mediterranean Sea.”
