European renewable energy company Galileo and Hope Group have formed a joint venture to develop the Barium Bay offshore wind farm in Italy's Adriatic Sea. The joint venture, called Barium Bay, will develop a 1.1GW floating wind facility 40km off the coast, stretching from Barium to the north of Barletta.

Ingmar Wilhelm, chief executive of Galileo, said Barium Bay is a landmark project because of its size and potential contribution to Italy's energy transition using only local energy sources. The Adriatic offers a winning combination of key factors that make floating offshore wind projects extremely attractive to Italy: good wind speeds, large areas and suitable connection solutions to the national grid.

Barium Bay JV is currently completing all required environmental and technical studies and plans to submit an EIA application later in 2023. It will also begin a 24-month offshore wind measurement campaign in partnership with Eolos Floating Lidar Solutions.

Galileo and Hope Group previously created a joint venture called Lupiae Maris, formed to develop a 525 MW wind farm offshore Puglia, Brindisi and Lecce in Italy.

Michele Scoppio, CEO of Hope Group, said: "We are enthusiastic and satisfied to strengthen our partnership with Galileo. This confirms the effectiveness of our cooperation and the resulting synergies through which we have developed capabilities that make us a reference in the growing Italian offshore wind market. Barium Bay is also a unique opportunity for the local community to become a hub of new capabilities for the energy transition.Editor/XingWentao