Stockholm-headquartered Hexicon has formed a 50-50 joint venture with Bologna-based clean energy developer Avapa Energy to develop floating wind power projects in Italian waters. The new joint venture, called AvenHexicon SRL, will now begin to look for suitable sites for floating wind power parks in order to initiate the necessary permit processes as quickly as possible.
Under the venture, Hexicon will license its patented technology to AvenHexicon for use in its projects and by third parties. Italy is one of the main recipients of the EU Green Deal and is hence assessed to be a key market in Europe for floating wind power.
AvenHexicon will use Hexicon’s floating platforms with titled towers and also encourage other developers to use the dual wind turbines. The dual-tilted wind turbine can be viewed as a micro wind farm of two turbines that weathervane so that neither of the turbines is affected by the wakes from upwind platforms. In addition to producing more energy per installation than comparable single-turbine foundation wind farms, multiple dual-wind systems in a wind farm also require less investment for the same amount of output.
“An important part of our business model is to enter new and promising markets as early as possible and to establish both our project development skills and technology together with local partners,” said Marcus Thor, CEO of Hexicon. “We have found a perfect partner in Avapa Energy, and with AvenHexicon we are looking forward to supporting Italy in its expansion of fossil-free electricity production.”
“Floating wind power with its advanced low-impact technology will play a material role in the Italian energy transition process, and we are happy to collaborate with Hexicon to develop floating wind parks in Italian waters,” said Alberto Dalla Rosa, Partner at Avapa Energy.
As one of the main recipients of the EU Green Deal, Italy has initiated the regulatory changes needed to develop offshore wind power. Italy currently has no operating offshore wind farms, but its national wind energy association, Anev, has set a target of five gigawatts of floating offshore wind for the country by 2040.
