Press release

  • The workshop at the Key Energy Fair in Rimini: the press release

    The participation of the Project POWERED (Project of Offshore Wind Energy : Research , Experimentation , Development) at Key Energy in Rimini helped to raise the level of knowledge about the potential of wind energy. This is due mainly to the workshop held in the Camelia hall November 6th, entitled ‘Compared scenarios for offshore wind: Northern Europe and the Progetto Powered il pubblico al Workshop a Key Energy di Rimini il 6 novembre 2013Mediterranean. The role of the P.O.W.E.R.E.D Project’.
    Among the speakers, Siemens Offshore made his first exit as a sponsor of the project: together with Tozzi, Siemens is among the developers of wind turbines that support Powered. Siemens presented its experience as a supplier of wind turbines offshore and linked it with the industrial development of the North Sea and the planning about the diffusion of this technology in the Mediterranean Sea. For its part Tozzi has confirmed that it is possible an intelligent use of wind power also ‘Near Shore’. This is connected to the development of ‘green ports’ (those seaports that use renewable energy for the activities of parking and supporting the ships).
    The workshop aimed to illustrate the steps taken by the project, especially with regard to the two technical work packages (WP4 and WP5): with regard to the first, Powered Project has completed the study of wind resources of the Adriatic basin. It produced maps and time series for the period 2008-2012 with a grid spacing of 3 km and 1 km. This result has allowed the identification of wind basins where is possible an immediate exploitation and those best suited for developing future technologies, such as turbines on floating platforms. Progetto Powered l'intervento di Renato Ricci al Workshop a Key Energy di Rimini il 6 novembre 2013
    WP5 has highlighted the environmental problems that need to be considered in case of investments in offshore wind farms: it’s a sensitive issue, which concerns not only the interaction with the environment, but also the effects that projects such as offshore wind farms have on local communities.
    With regard to the future potential of Powered, the most interesting, as it has been stressed during the workshop, is to become a reference and good practice tool for all those projects related to wind energy that will be produced as part of the activities relating the management of the Adriatic-Ionian macro-region.

  • Powered Project at Key Energy Fair, press release

    A ‘Powered Project’ exhibition stand at the Fair Key Energy

    Rimini November 6th to 9th.

    On November 6th, the conference ‘Compared scenarios

    for offshore wind: Northern Europe and the Mediterranean.

    The role of P.O.W.E.R.E.D Project ‘

     

    Powered Project (Project of Offshore Wind Energy: Research, Experimentation, Development), will have a stand at the ‘Key Energy’ Fair, hosted in Rimini 2013 november 6th to 9th. The subject of the Fair this year is ‘A new green deal to Italy’. The location of the stand is the no. 053 – Pavilion D7. Powered project has organized a public event, ‘Compared scenarios for offshore wind: Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. The role of the Project P.O.W.E.R.E.D’, that will be hosted November 6th in Camelia hall (Ist Floor Hall B6 ). The meeting will be chaired by Mara Roncuzzi –  the Cancellor of Environment for Province of Ravenna – and by Alberto Rebucci (Supervisor of Production activity and EC Policies for the Province of Ravenna), will begin at 2 pm: after the registration of participants the conference will start with the speeches of Corrado Clini (Director General Ministry of the Environment) , Mara Roncuzzi (Cancellor of Environment for Province of Ravenna) and Mauro Di Dalmazio (Councillor for the environment and energy Abruzzo Region).

    The reports will begin at 14.45: Antonio Sorgi – Ercole Cauti (Abruzzo Region), POWERED Lead & Project Manager ‘The project POWERED (Project of Offshore Wind Energy: Research, Experimentation, Development)’, Lorenzo Facco ( CETMA) ‘Analysis of the ‘state of the art’ regarding to the environmental and energy policies in the Adriatic sea’, Edoardo Prina (Wind Power division  Italy) ‘Siemens and Siemens Wind Power – 160 years of innovation and 30 years of service to the wind energy sector’, Kai Gyldenloeve Roetink (Offshore Wind, EMEA) ‘Evolution and new horizons of offshore wind market: technological innovation and drivers to bring down the cost of energy’, Renato Ricci (Marche Polytechnic University) ‘The wind resource of the Adriatic Sea for POWERED Project’, Antonio Pusceddu (Marche Polytechnic University) ‘Environmental sustainability of offshore wind power in the Adriatic Sea’, Enzo Titone (Micoperi Ltd) ‘The POWERED network of meteorologic mast: the transformation of a flare tower in an high quality meteorological station’, Michele Rialti (Tozzi Nord) ‘POWERED Project for the development of a Green Port: The experience of Tozzi Nord’, Daniela Moderini (Team POWERED ) ‘Wind landscapes in the Adriatic Sea’. At the end the program schedules a discussion panel and a debate.

    The aim of the European project Powered – funded by the IPA Adriatic Cross-border Programme 2007-2013 – is to check if and where there are wind conditions to invest in large offshore wind farms: thanks to the development of sophisticated mathematical models and data collected from the anemometer network. The data will be ‘certified’ and will provide useful elements to install any wind farm along the Adriatic coast, starting from the major ports.

  • The small wind turbine of Porto Corsini works at full capacity

    After a short period in which has been made the connection with ENEL, the small wind turbine installed on the north Foto pala eolica Diga foranea nord Porto Corsini 3breakwater of Porto Corsini, started up June  28th, reached the full functionality. The small wind turbine realized by Tozzi Nord was installed by the Province of Ravenna, in cooperation with the Port Authority of Ravenna and thanks to Project Powered (Project of Offshore Wind Energy: Research, Experimentation and Development). The small wind turbine model TN535 provides 10 kw of power: it  is expected to produce about 20,000 kwh per year, helping to offset (at least partially) with renewable and clean energy, the energy consumption of the Cruise Terminal. The installation of the system is a confirmation of the importance of the Project Powered: in addition to providing data on the strength of the wind and weather, to understand whether and where to build large offshore wind farms in the Adriatic area, the project makes possible the conditions for exploiting the wind strength even in areas, along the Adriatic coast and nearshore, particularly in ports, where the wind power is not intense, but where development costs are considerably lower than for the largest offshore wind farms. In this direction, the installation of the small wind turbine, which is purely experimental, is a first step in the direction of an important goal like the green port.

    Foto pala eolica Diga foranea nord Porto Corsini 1

  • Inaugurated a small wind turbine on the north pier in Porto Corsini June 28th

    Thanks to the Project Powered (Project of Offshore Wind Energy: Research, Experimentation and Development) today, June 28th 2013 a small wind turbine – model TN535 developed by Tozzi Nord (which is one of the sponsors of Project Powered) – has been inaugurated at the North Pier in Porto Corsini, near the Cruise terminal. The ceremony took place at 12.30 before the partners of Project Powered, including the Province of Ravenna, which organized the event.Foto inaugurazione impianto minieolico a Porto Corsini 28 giu 13 n. 2

    Earlier, in the morning, the conference room of the Port Authority hosted a meeting on ‘The potential of wind energy in the Adriatic and the prospects of the green port’: the reports have been expanded on all the topics linked to a strategy of ‘sustainable development’ of the Adriatic seaports (i.e. where renewable energy sources play a key role): the port of Ravenna  could be a ‘laboratory’ where to experiment the solutions that make it possible to transform a seaport into a ‘green port’. The installation of the new small wind turbine – which is added to another plant, 1.5 kWp vertical axis that thanks to Project Powered has already been installed December 17th 2011 – is an important step in this direction. At the same time, the two anemometers that are ‘coupled’ with the wind turbines – and together with the anemometer built by Micoperi of Ravenna, connected with Project Powered – it will be possible to measure the relationship between wind and actual production of energy on the docks of the Port of Ravenna.

    TN535 is the only Italian wind turbine certified according to the international standard MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme), capable of producing 37,300 kWh to an annual average wind speed of 5 m / s. The main feature of the system, making it ideal for the area of the Port of Ravenna, is that it offers high capacity of energy production in sites with low wind regimes, thanks to features like active control of blade pitch and of the yawing axes. An advanced control system from a remote machine also ensures maximum safety.

    Dr. Antonio Sorgi – Manager of the Abruzzo Region (which is the lead partner of the project) – and Ing. Renato Ricci, from the Marche Politecnica University and scientific director of the project, claimed that the goal of Powered, is to check if and where there are wind conditions in order to invest in large offshore wind farms, in the way has been shown during the conference in the morning. At the same time, the network planned anemometer data and mathematical models will provide certificates and useful elements for the installation of any wind farm along the Adriatic coast, starting with large Adriatic ports.Foto inaugurazione impianto minieolico a Porto Corsini 28 giu 13 n.1

    In this regard, the Province aldermen Mara Roncuzzi and Gianni Bessi have stressed how the Project Powered is also crucial for the territory of Ravenna: we are engaged in an important project for the city, the gradual transformation of the Port of Ravenna in a modern green port, forefront in Europe. The representative of the Port Authority have announced that June 25th has been officially presented on the Call of Life 2013 a new project about a green port, which aim is the use of renewable energy for sustainable mobility in port areas.

    The Regional alderman Giancarlo Muzzarelli concluded the conference : he appreciated the objectives of Project Powered and pointed out how these are intertwined closely with the regional strategy, which in recent years has produced the first important results, for energy efficiency and the development of renewable energy in line with the European targets and more generally for a closer link between innovative policies for the development and policies for environmental sustainability. Muzzarelli also pointed out how the green port project of Ravenna is the starting point for a new culture of sustainable development.

  • June 28th conference in Ravenna on Green Ports on the Adriatic sea and inauguration of an experimental small wind turbine

    June 28th 2013, Ravenna will host two important events connected with Project Powered: a conference on how and where it’s possible to realize wind power plants in the Adriatic Sea for the development of ‘green ports’ (a high environmental sustainability seaport, in which renewable energy sources play a key role) and the inauguration of a small wind turbine on the external north pier in Porto Corsini. Both events are coordinated by the Province of Ravenna, which is one of the partners of Powered (Project of Offshore Wind Energy: Research, Experimentation and Development), a European project led by the Abruzzo Region and funded by the IPA Cross-Border Programme Adriatic 2007-2013. The Project Powered goal is to create a network of anemometers, both on hinterland than in open sea, realized with sophisticated technologies and certifiable, in the Adriatic – Ionic sea, in order to assess whether and where the are conditions to invest in large offshore wind farms.
    The 10 kwp small wind turbine, realized by Tozzi Nord (which is also one of the sponsors of the Project Powered) after a call for tender, is the second installed in connection with Powered, after a 1.5 kWp vertical axis small wind turbine that has been installed December 17th 2011. In this way, the area of the cruise terminal of Porto Corsini will rely on two sources of wind power, installed for purely experimental pourpose, connected with two anemometers that (together with the large anemometer made  by Micoperi of Ravenna in connection with Powered) will measure the relationship between wind and actual energy production directly on the docks of the Port of Ravenna.The conference, ‘The potential of wind energy in the Adriatic and the prospects of the green port’, will be hosted in the conference room of the Port Authority of Ravenna, from 9 o’clock. The program opens at 9 am with welcome speeches by authorities: Gianni Bessi (Vice-President of the Province of Ravenna, partner of Project Powered), Galliano Di Marco (President of the Port Authority of Ravenna), Massimo Cameliani (Councillor for Productive Activities – Municipality of Ravenna), Antonio Sorgi (Director for Energy department – Region Abruzzo Project Powered Lead Partner). At 9:30 begin the reports: Carlo Cacciamani (Director Hydro-Meteo-Climate service Arpa Emilia Romagna) ‘Climate change in Emilia-Romagna, possible effects on production and consumption of energy’, Renato Ricci (Department of Industrial Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Polytechnic University of Marche) ‘The Project Powered for the assessment of offshore wind resources: from the Adriatic Sea to the havens’, Enzo Titone (Micoperi Consultant) ‘The transformation of a torch tower in a high quality meteorological station: the case of Micoperi Marine Contrators as a contribution to the monitoring network of the Project Powered’, Francesco Matteucci and Michele Rialti (Responsables of Tozzi Renewable Energy Research and Development) ‘From installation of the new experimental small wind turbine of Project Powered to a systematic project of green port in Ravenna’, Alfredo Liverani (Professor at UNIBO – CIRI-MAM Nautica Department) ‘Econautica and Greenport: systemic integration concerning the projects of Tecnopolo’, Claudia Castaldini (Legambiente – Emilia-Romagna) ‘Positive proofs and critical issues on renewable energy in Emilia-Romagna’, Mara Roncuzzi (Councillor for Planning and environmental policies Province of Ravenna) ‘The green port project connected to the energy and environment  policy of the Province of Ravenna’. The debate will take place at 11 o’clock; the Councillor for Productive Activities, Energy Plan and Sustainable Development Region of Emilia-Romagna Gian Carlo Muzzarelli will conclude the meeting at 11.45 o’clock.

    After the meeting, at 12.30 pm, will take place the inauguration ceremony of the new plant small wind turbines on the external North pier of Porto Corsini.

     

  • Ancona conference on ‘The development of offshore wind energy in the Adriatic Sea: Project Powered as a planning instrument’ (May 29th and May 30th )

    The European project POWERED (Project of Offshore Wind Energy: Research, Experimentation and Development), funded by the IPA Adriatic Cross-border Programme 2007-2013 (lead partner the Abruzzo Region), has made an important step of its path. The maps of wind resources of the Adriatic Sea have already been produced and the European tender for the implementation of a network of measuring meteorological towers  has been assigned: these towers will support the numerical forecasting system in providing forecasts on the production of electricity by the future wind farms installed in the Adriatic sea. The Polytechnic University of Marche along with the Marche Region, as a partner of the project POWERED, has organized for May 29th 2013, in Ancona, a conference that is entitled ‘The development of offshore wind energy in the Adriatic Sea: the project Powered as a planning instrument’. The event will be hosted in the Aula Magna “Guido Bossi” of the Faculty of Engineering, in Brecce Bianche street. The event will begin at 9:30 am and it will end at 5 pm: the participation is free and the download of the conference proceedings will be available at the project website: www.powered-ipa.it. The schedule of the conference includes speakers from public institution (Italian Ministry of Environment, University of Bologna, ARPA Emilia Romagna, University of Hull, Polytechnic University of Marche, Lezha Region of Albania), environmental organizations (Environmental League) and private companies of the wind power sector (Garrad-Hassan, WPD Offshore, Mainstream Renewable Power Ltd., Tozzi Nord, SIMAM, API nova Energy, Micoperi Marine Contractors, MAIT SpA, Condor Wind Energy). The conference will a discussion platform for wording the Guidelines for the Correct Insertion of Offshore Wind Farms in the Adriatic Sea, which is the main aim of the project POWERED. The knowledge of the technological instruments now available for designers and manufacturers, can provide valuable suggestions for a reasoned and shared proposal on the good practices that it’s necessary to adopt during the development of an offshore wind project. The next day, May 30th, are scheduled the meetings of the Scientific Committee and the Steering Committee.

  • The call for tender to build nine anemometer towers along the Adriatic coast

    Thanks to Project Powered, there’s a big chance to take an important step forward to study the potential of offshore wind energy in the Adriatic sea: the call for tender for purchasing and installing nine towers for anemometric measures, to be placed along the Adriatic coast as predicted by Project Powered, has been sent to the Official Journal of the European Union on February 5th 2013 and has been published by the Gazzetta ufficiale of the Italian Republic on February 8th 2013.
    In this way, another of the project aims has been reached, after the one consisting in the detailed mapping of wind resources of the Adriatic Sea, which was completed in August last year. By installing this network of terrestrial anemometers, and the subsequent call for tender to install an offshore anemometer, the Project has developed a monitoring system of high quality, based on 8 towers of 45 meters and one of 100 meters in height, equipped with anemometers at different levels.
    The system gives the chance to improve and qualify to the highest degree the map of the Adriatic sea winds, which has been developed numerically in the first stage of the project, and to implement a system of weather forecasting short-term (24-48 hours), adapted to estimate the production of electricity from offshore wind farms. This has been possible thanks to the economic resources made available for the project, that is the most important funded by the IPA Adriatic Cross-Border Programme, with European funding of approximately 4 million and 400 thousand euro. The analysis of the collected data – the data will be published on the project website, http://www.powered-ipa.it – gives the chance to check carefully if there are favourable climatic conditions in specific areas of the Adriatic Euroregion to develop the wind power technology for the production of electricity.
    It’s important to underline that Project Powered uses its studies as a starting point to draw real GUIDELINES: a set of best practices to be used in the design of offshore wind power, but also to identify FORBIDDEN AREAS for the installation and the necessary authorization procedures to present an offshore wind project. All this, keeping togheter environmental sensitivity and regard for the laws of the member participating in the project (Albania, Croatia, Italy and Montenegro).

     

  • The meeting in Tirana, a crucial passage for Project Powered.

    The partners of the European project Powered (Project of Offshore Wind Energy: Research, Experimentation, Development), gathered on January 28th and 29th in Tirana: the meeting has been opened by the report of the Albanian Ministry of Economy, Trade and Energy which explained how Albania is one of the few European countries that produces electricity entirely from renewable sources (particularly hydropower) and has a strategy of further development of clean energy, to integrate a wide area that includes Italy, Bulgaria and Greece.
    The meeting produced important and positive novelties.
    First of all, in the beginning of February will be issued the public call for tender to assign the installation of EIGHT anemometer coastal towers and the measurement equipment on A tower that already exists: it will be published by the Gazzetta ufficiale italiana and by the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ).
    This is the second step of Project Powered, co-financed by the Project IPA CBC Adriatic. The project aims are:
    1. To evaluate wind resources of the Adriatic Sea, using numerical meteorologic reconstructions that at least have THREE years of term (2009-2011);
    2. To implement a network of wind measuring stations whose characteristics match to the determination of the manufacturability of electricity from wind power. The network will remain active until 2019;
    3. To activate a system of short term weather forecasting (24-48 hours) that aids to evaluate potential energy output from offshore wind farms in the Adriatic Sea. The system will remain active until 2019;
    4. To define the type of marine areas in which it will be forbidden to install offshore wind farms;
    5. To identify every issue associated with the development of offshore wind in the Adriatic Sea;
    6. To write the Guidelines for proper insertion of offshore wind farms and define paperwork requested to obtain authorizations for the construction.
    Therefore, the partners of Project Powered gathered in Tirana decided to plan two events. The first will be organized by the Marche Region and the University Politecnica delle Marche and will be held in Ancona on May 29th and 30th 2013. On May 29th is scheduled the scientific conference on the issues regarding infrastructures, transports, technologies, environment and landscape connected with the installation and management of offshore wind farms in Italy, in the Adriatic area and worldwide. International experts will be invited: the starting point of the debate will be the Project Powered. On May 30th the partners will meet to discuss the project state of art and the starting of the final stage of the project.
    The partners also decided to plan an event in Ravenna, on June 27th and 28th 2013: the topics will be the potentiality of wind energy along the coasts and the development of green ports in the Adriatic sea; besides they will participate to some selected events regarding the energy sector that will be organized in Europe in the end of 2013.
    At the meeting in Tirana has been also illustrated the results of the wind map and has been introduced an important issue related to them: the chance to certify data.  This way those who are interested to invest in the off shore field – companies, institutions, bank, but also those who have to provide for authorization – may get a document that is absolutely reliable and recognized as such by banks and international investment funds. The proposal came from the Italian Ministry of Environment and Protection of Land and Sea, which is one of the most influential partner of the project.

  • Montenegro meeting: a strong impulse to achieve the Project Powered goals

    On October 30th and 31st was held in Podgorica, Montenegro, the new official meeting among the partners of the European Project Powered (Project of Offshore Wind Energy: Research, Experimentation, Development, funded by the Project of cross-border cooperation IPA Adriatic), to make the point on the progress and the steps planned to achieve the goals of the project: to collect, through the use of sophisticated anemometers and innovative mathematical models, scientific data in order to assess the technical and economic conditions to start investments in power plants offshore wind in the Adriatic Sea. The most important news has been announced by Prof. Ricci from Polytechnic University of Marche: after the positive resolution of understandable legal technical difficulties, by the end of November will be released an European call for tenders to identify the specialized subjects that will realize the support towers and the installation of a first block of anemometers on both sides of the ‘Adriatic.
    Project Powered plans to create a network of newly developed anemometers: each apparatus for measuring the strength of the wind will be installed on towers of 45 meters, placed both on the land and in the sea. So it will be possible to detect accurately the real potential of wind in the Adriatic sea and the chance to exploit it to run offshore wind power plants. The data are highly accurate: the big international banks consider them trustworthy to decide on the investments eligibility. The stretch of sea off the coast of Marche is one among the locations to install the anemometers: it will be used an Eni platform, hundred feet high, on which will be built a tower of the same height.
    Antonio Sorgi, the Energy sector general director of Abruzzo Region (Project Powered lead partner), with the collaboration of all partners, carried out a careful analysis about the progress of the project and the individual work packages. Among the elements to be reported, the ‘core’ of the project, the analysis of wind conditions in the Adriatic, has already taken a significant step forward, thanks to the good work of Marche Polytechnic University, led by Professor Renato Ricci. The mathematical model used by the Marche Polytechnic University researchers is very advanced and has a novelty: the model is able to calculate the power of the wind with a detail to a square kilometre. The model is able to provide a very reliable picture of the strength of the wind in Adriatic, which will be further verified by data provided by the Powered anemometers network. Thanks to the model, it has been confirmed the potential of wind in Adriatic grows proceeding from north to south, even if there are considerable variability at the local level.
    To develop wind energy and to pay back the investment in the present conditions of incentive, both of Italy and of the eastern Adriatic countries, it is needed an average wind of at least 7 meters per second at hub height: such conditions, according to the model, are present in some coastal areas of Abruzzo, Molise and Puglia in Italy, and in some parts of Albania, Montenegro and Croatia for the eastern Adriatic countries. Professor Renato Ricci has also ensured that his team is able to increase the accuracy of the mathematical model, on particularly suited areas, reaching a detail up to 200 meters spatial step.
    It would also be possible, when the project will be carried out, to understand in a better way the wind potential in some coastal areas of the project partners, that are potentially interesting to install wind power plants: like the Adriatic ports with suitable characteristics. The aim is to contribute to the gradual transformation of the Adriatic seaports in modern ‘green port’, in which the contribution of renewable energy will grow progressively.
    The meeting also gave a positive account of the progress of the tasks related to the laws of the States and the environmental impact issues: it has been  started an analysis on guidelines to be drawn up for making the offshore development in the growing areas of ‘Adriatic area viable and sustainable.
    The contribution of the partner that hosted the meeting has been very important: the Ministry of Energy of Montenegro representative has shown the growing commitment of his country, which is in pre-accession to the EU, to implement the European Directive 2009/28/CE (so-called ’20 20 20) and, in particular, to strengthen the commitment to develop renewable sources. The strategy of the Balkan country is based on the further development of hydroelectric power (which already represents a significant share of the nation’s energy production), the strong development of solar energy, both thermal and photovoltaic, and exploitation of onshore and offshore wind potential. About it, Montenegro has authorized the construction of two wind farms on Mozura (46 MW) and Krnovo (72 MW) and is working with some European countries, particularly active in the wind energy sector, to carry out a detailed study on the chance to create wind farms in the coastal area of Ulcjni and Bar. Hence the strong interest of Montenegro for Project Powered: to explore scientifically the full potential of exploitation of the wind resource to realize, later, with the help of investors, wind farms (in particular offshore).
    At the end of the meeting, the partners agreed that the next one will take place in late January 2013 in Albania (Tirana), and it will have as main topics the results of European competitive tender to assign the installation of anemometers and how to install them. Partners also agreed to organize, during spring 2013, a succession of conferences on specific topics related to Project Powered: Ravenna (wind power and green port), in Venice (climate change, renewable energy and role of wind energy) and Ancona (physical models and mathematical development of off shore in the Adriatic).



Lead partner Abruzzo Region Directorate for Bureau Affairs, Legislative and EC Policies, External Affairs Department for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Sources, Energy Sector, Ministry of Economy of Montenegro Veneto Agricoltura, regional agency for agriculture, forestry and agri-food sectors

Province of Ravenna
Marche Region Environment and Landscape Department

Molise Region Programming Department
Apulia Region Mediterranean Department

Marche Polytechnic University
CETMA Consortium Engineering, Design and Materials Center Micoperi marine contractors srl

Italian Ministry for Environment and Land and Sea
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Energy, Republic of Albania

Municipality of Komiza
European Union Adriatic IPA