Wind Energy – FEED Contract
Aker Solutions is appointed to design the subsea substations for Med Wind, the Mediterranean’s largest floating offshore wind farm.
Renexia has signed a front-end engineering and design contract (FEED) with Aker Solutions a leading company for underwater solutions in the energy industry, to design the underwater substations for Med Wind, the most significant floating wind farm project in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Trapani.
Aker Solutions will work in close cooperation with its alliance partner ABB.
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, at a depth of between 520 and 660 metres, into which the cables of the plant’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 submarine and land-based cable ducts.
This is the first time Aker Solutions is engaged in an offshore wind project in the Mediterranean Sea. The company was chosen thanks to its many years of experience with advanced technology solutions for offshore oil & gas and renewables. Studies conducted by its consultancy branch identified significant savings in CAPEX and OPEX compared to alternative options, paving the way for the development of a unique solution.
In addition to its proven technological efficiency, Renexia opted for the innovative Aker Solutions module because of its small footprint, resulting in minimal impact on the marine ecosystem. The module’s components also played an important role in Renexia’s choice, as they do not require any major maintenance work for the 25 years of Med Wind’s concession.
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 3.4 million households and equivalent to 3% of the national energy demand, an important step for the energy transition path undertaken by Italy.
