EDPR commissions a new wind farm in Italy. It is located in Fulgatore, Sicily.
EDPR expands in Italy
EDPR’s new wind farm will provide electricity to nearly 28,000 Italian homes. The park operates with 9 turbines with a total power of 44 MW.
With the completion of this project, EDP Renewables has reached a capacity of 463 MW in Italy. Roberto Pasqua, Director of EDPR in Italy, states:
“We are very proud of this new investment, which underlines EDPR’s commitment to the Italian renewable energy market and demonstrates our willingness to continue contributing for many years to come to the socio-economic development of the regions in which we operate.”
A European leader in renewable energy?
The country has been working hard on its energy transition. First, Italy has a large hydroelectric capacity, especially in the north, which provides most of its renewable electricity.
It can especially count on a very important sunshine, being the 6th world nation in terms of sun exposure. In 2020, the country put 800 million euros on the table to accelerate investment in the sector. Italy plans to have a 30% renewable energy mix by 2030. EDPR intends to take advantage of this to develop its business.
However, in 2020, its electricity production from wind power had decreased significantly (-7.4%). The Ukrainian crisis has obviously put all alternative energy sources to gas and oil back on the agenda.
EDPR’s investment is an opportunity for the country to reach this goal more quickly. Italy will thus launch the construction of 6 new offshore wind farms on its coasts.
Mario Draghi declared:
“Accelerated investments in renewable energy […] remain the only long-term strategy.”
In order to facilitate their development, Italy is banking on a simplification of procedures. However, associations such as Greenpeace are warning about the need to think correctly about these still unsustainable technologies. They could generate huge costs concerning the problems of storage, which is still not very developed in the country, or of connection to the network.
