Eni majority-owned GreenIT and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) have unveiled ambitious plans to build a pair of floating wind farms with a total capacity of 750MW off Italy.

The projects will be based around 12MW turbines moored off the islands of Sicily and Sardinia, the first a 250MW array made up of 21 units and the second a 500MW development consisting of 42 machines.

The two floating wind developments are forecast to produce more than 2,000GWh a year, equal to the average annual energy consumption of 750,000 households on the Italian islands and representing an increase of 50% more than the output of an onshore wind farm in the southern European country.

Operations are slated to start in 2026 on the Sicily project, located in 200-300 metres of water, and 2028 on the Sardinia development, sited in depths of 300-600 metres, “at the end of the authorisation process and following construction”, said the partners.

GreenIT is a joint venture between Eni-owned Plenitude and CDP Equity for the production of energy from renewable sources, and CI IV, a fund managed by CIP.

The projects will be developed in Sicily with the support of Lilybeo Wind Power and in Sardinia with Nice Technology and 7 Seas Wind.

Floating wind power’s global build-out this decade has been forecast by the Global Wind Energy Council to reach over 16GW, though some analysts remain concerned outdated current government policy frameworks have the potential of limiting the sector to deploying as little as 5GW by 2030.