RWE commissions onshore wind farm in Sicily

“I am delighted to announce the full commissioning of our 25 MW Selinus wind farm in Sicily. The development and construction teams have done a fantastic job. As we are constantly looking for innovative technologies to reduce the environmental impact of our projects, we used a blade lift technology for transportation during construction of Selinus to prevent any damages to nearby olive trees. With its promising growth opportunities for renewables, Italy is one of our key markets to grow our renewables portfolio. By 2030, our goal is to reach in Italy an installed capacity of 1 GW from onshore wind, solar and battery storage.”

RWE has commissioned its 17th onshore wind farm in Italy. The 25.2 MW Selinus wind farm is located in Sicily, where RWE already operates four onshore wind farms. Six Vestas wind turbines (type V136) with a rated power of 4.2 MW will generate enough green electricity to cover the annual needs of more than 22,000 Italian households. RWE invested over €30 million in the project. In Autumn 2021 Selinus won an Italian auction in which the Italian government granted a bilateral contract for difference (CfD) for the onshore project. RWE was able to construct and commission the project in less than a year.

Sustainable blade lift technology

Selinus wind farm is surrounded by olive trees. This makes it a beautiful location but also challenging for the transportation of the 67-meter-long blades. To prevent the blades from touching the olive trees and reducing the environmental impact a special “blade lift” technology was used to transport them safely to the site. This sustainable project design approach taken during development allowed the construction team to minimise civil engineering works and to avoid harming olive trees.

Strong presence in the Italian market for renewables

RWE, a world leader in renewables, operates with an integrated project approach that incorporates development, construction and operation, as well as the marketing of wind farms. The company draws on its extensive experience to operate its onshore business there with an installed capacity of 480 MW. With its onshore fleet, RWE is able to supply 376,000 Italian households with green electricity every year. RWE aims to more than double this to an installed capacity of 1,000 MW spread across onshore wind, solar and battery storage by 2030.  In addition, RWE has set-up a team dedicated to offshore wind energy to assess the potential for projects off the Italian coast.