Adriatic Sea will build 100MW offshore photovoltaic power station

    The Italian company Saipem is planning to build a project that is expected to become the world's largest offshore photovoltaic power station-a 100MW facility located off the coast of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. The Home Solar Kits Off Grid project started the approval process two years ago and is expected to be put into operation by the end of 2025.

    Italian energy solutions provider and natural gas contractor Saipem, in cooperation with the Italian renewable energy company Qint’x, will build a 100MW offshore solar farm on the Adriatic coast of Ravenna. The project will be located on the coast of Romagna in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy.

    The two companies started the approval process for the Agnes project in early 2019. "The approval process is underway, and the concession application and construction permit for the offshore area should be completed by the end of 2023," a spokesperson for Saipem told Photovoltaic magazine. "The entire facility is scheduled to be connected to the grid by the end of 2025."

    The power station will be constructed in a modular manner and may include a 50 MW battery to balance peak demand from the grid. Saipem has also partnered with Norwegian oil giant Equinor through its subsidiary Moss Maritime to test an offshore floating solar array near the island of Froya near Trondheim, Norway. A spokesperson for Saipem said, “Currently, Equinor is not involved in the Agnes project.” He added that the Italian project will be different from the Norwegian plant and “will be adjusted according to local weather conditions.”

    Moss Maritime focuses on design and engineering services in the field of offshore energy, and its goal is to become a leading supplier of offshore and offshore solutions for floating solar panel power parks. Saipem expects to launch new offshore solar projects in the near future. The spokesperson added, “It is very likely that it will be a pilot project first, but if feasible, there will also be commercial projects.”

    The company will focus on Southeast Asia, North America, South America and the Mediterranean. They expect that the power generation of offshore photovoltaic installations will be 5-10% higher than those installed on the ground.

    Saipem recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Alboran Hydrogen, a hydrogen specialist based in Florence, to jointly develop five green hydrogen plants, three in Italy and two in Albania and Morocco.