Eco News

The group Enel, the largest Italian company, announced Thursday that plans to build a wind turbine park near the coasts of Sicilia, this will be the first offshore windmill park in the Mediterranean Sea.

Enel together with local partner Moncada Energy Group, wants to install 115 turbines with a power between three and five megawatts each, at a distance of about three nautical miles from coast of Sicilia, in Gela gulf waters. The investment is estimated at approximately 500 million euros and the wind marine park would become operational in 2012.

“There is already a windmill park of its kind in the Adriatic Sea, but is not yet operational,” noted the press office of Enel.

Enel will control 57 percent of the project and the remaining of 43 percent will be owned by Moncada, a Sicilian company with activities in energy and construction. If the two companies plan will be approved by local authorities and the national government, windmill park will have an installed capacity between 345 and 575 of megawatts, sufficient to cover the electricity needs of approximately 400,000 households. In addition, the project will help to educe CO2 emissions by around 815,000 tonnes per year.

“This project will double capacity available of Enel on the wind sectory from Italy”. said delegate administrator of the group Enel, Fulvio Conti. In 2007, this capacity amounted to 325 megawatts.

The Italian group has allocated 7.4 billion euros for investments in alternative energy projects in the period between 2008 and 2012.