Renexia has signed a contract with China’s Mingyang Smart Energy for the front-end engineering design (FEED) of the 2.8 GW Med Wind floating offshore wind project in Italy.

The contract follows the joint signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Italian Ministry of Enterprises to develop a factory in Italy for the new 18 MW MySE turbines that would offer 1,300 new jobs.

The FEED contract is said to mark another key milestone in the development of the Med Wind floating offshore wind project, which will be powered by the new Mingyang turbines.

The wind farm will feature 18.8 MW units (MySE 18-292), for which integrated load analysis has already begun and the prototype of which is already operational.

Renexia said in August that using an 18.8 MW turbine model would reduce the number of wind turbines at Med Wind from the originally planned 190 to 148, which would further reduce both environmental impact and maintenance costs.

The 2.8 GW Med Wind floating wind project is proposed to be built 80 kilometre from the Sicilian coast at a site covering 850 square kilometres.

At the end of 2022, Renexia selected Technip Energies to perform FEED work for Med Wind. The scope of work covered the floating foundations and moorings for the wind turbines and the conceptual design for the floating offshore substations.

With a full installed capacity of 2.8 GW, the floating wind farm will be able to generate about 9 TWh of electricity per year, equal to the energy needs of 3.4 million households. The energy produced by Med Wind will be transmitted and distributed directly to Sicily.