Erg has completed the construction and started energizing the Partinico-Monreale wind farm, near Palermo. It is the first park in the group's portfolio to have successfully terminated operations repowering i.e. upgrading wind turbines with more modern, powerful and efficient models.
Wind repowering: what is it about?
Wind repowering makes it possible to increase the generation capacity of wind farms on average, doubling their power and tripling the production of electricity without the need to increase the number of turbines installed. This strategy represents a significant improvement, as it allows the original and end-of-life wind turbines to be replaced with models more powerful and efficient. Repowering is considered one of the most promising tools to facilitate the ecological transition currently in progress.
After replacing all the obsolete wind turbines with the latest generation ones, the Partinico-Monreale wind farm is now made up of 10 turbine 132 MW Vestas V4,2, with a total installed capacity of 42 MW. This represents a significant improvement over the previous 19 turbines, which had a total capacity of 16 MW. Furthermore, the estimated annual production has increased from 27 GWh to 94 GWh.
75% of the electricity produced by the park will be sold through a 12-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). The contract was signed with Luxottica during the first quarter of 2023 and provides for the supply of approximately 900 GWh of clean energy in the period between 2023 and 2034.
Energy transition: a step forward for Erg
Paul Merli, Chief Executive Officer of Erg, commented positively on the start-up of the Partinico-Monreale wind farm, the first to have completed the repowering process. This result gives greater visibility to Erg's 2022-2026 Business Plan, which provides for similar renovation works on around 15 plants in Italy, located in particularly windy areas. Overall, there will be 850 MW of new capacity equipped with the latest generation turbines, which will produce over 2 TWh of energy per year. This quantity represents three times the current production of wind farms, while maintaining the same land occupation. Furthermore, the total investment amounts to one billion euros, demonstrating Erg's commitment to tenergy ransision of the country.
