Press release installation of the anemometers in Ortona, Campomarino and Brindisi

The installation of three anemometer stations of the seven planned by the final phase of European Project POWERED has been completed in Ortona (Abruzzo), Campomarino (Molise) and Brindisi. An anemometer station was already installed in Ravenna. The devices are supported by a structure 45 meters high, trellis-worked and guyed, and there are 4 measurement levels at different heights. Within September the three remaining anemometer stations will be installed in locations of the project partners Montenegro, Veneto and Marche. Abruzzo, Molise, Puglia and Province of Ravenna are partners of POWERED project, which has as its primary objective the installation of anemometers, offshore and onshore, to collect data with a high degree of precision on the power of the wind aiming to develope wind energy in the Adriatic.The data from the POWERED stations will be assimilated by the weather prediction models to assess the offshore wind resource and to determine the expected energy production of future wind farms in the Adriatic sea. This is a unique service that allows the investors to meet the demand for “Predictable production”, which is requested by the national supplier of electricity.

For the development of offshore wind in Italy POWERED is an indispensable mean. It provides secure and certified data on wind power, allowing to program targeted investments. All the subjects interested in investing and working in the offshore field – entrepreneurs, banks, but also those who have to provide authorizations – will have a reliable product, recognized by banks and international investment funds. This request was raised directly by the italian Ministry of Environment and Protection of Land and Sea, which is one of the most influential partners of the project.

The task of POWERED Project also includes the definition of common guidelines for the territories along the Adriatic shore, in order to streamline the bureaucracy before the phase of construction of the plants, but also to regulate their construction.

POWERED constitutes one of the most important achievements in our country on the path to use wind energy in a systematic and efficient way. «The project – says the head of the Scientific Committee, Prof. Ing. Renato Ricci, professor at the Polytechnic University of Marche – aims to define a ‘best practice’, that are the actions to be taken to program effectively the making of an offshore wind farm. Which has to be programmed and cannot be managed as a wind farm on mainland, because there are issues related to lines of vessel traffic, environmental, social etc. And in this case it doesn’t work to leave room to individual initiative. In this way POWERED has dealt with all the issues and brought out all the possibilities connected to building an offshore wind farm». POWERED Project is the most important among those financed by the IPA Adriatic Cross-Border Programme; it got an European funding of 4 million and 400 thousand euro. Italian partners are the Ministry of Environment, Regions Abruzzo (who is also the Project Leader), Molise, Puglia and Marche, the regional bureau Veneto Agriculture, the Province of Ravenna, the Polytechnic University of Marche, Cetma Group, Micoperi Marine Contractors. Montenegro and Albania participates with their respective Ministries of Economy, while for Croatia, the partnership is ensured by the city of Komiza.