Wind Energy

Wind energy in Italy: wind farm Castellaneta

BKW Inc. signed an agreement to acquire a wind farm in Castellaneta (Apulia, Italy) with a total capacity of 56 MW. The acquisition will expand BKW’s position as a leading Swiss operator of wind power farms in Switzerland and abroad. To date, BKW has invested close to CHF 1 billion in wind power: with an installed capacity of close to 400 MW, BKW generates some 800 million Kilowatt hours (kWh) a year, equivalent to the collective consumption of Bienne, Langenthal, Burgdorf, Thun and Interlaken.

Castellaneta is located in the windy region of Apulia, where BKW’s other Italian wind farms are also situated. Installation of the 28 turbines is to be completed by the end of 2012. The purchase agreement signed today between BKW and the Tozzi industrial group will be completed once the wind farm is finished. As things stand at present, this is scheduled for the first quarter of 2013. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The transaction is pending approval from the Italian cartel authorities.

Thanks to investments totalling more than a billion Swiss francs, BKW will have an operational wind power portfolio with an installed capacity of around 400 MW and an annual production volume of close to 800 million kWh once the Castellaneta wind farm goes into operation. In all, the company operates 211 wind turbines: 16 in Switzerland (22 MW), where it is by far the largest wind farm operator, 85 in Germany (145 MW) and 110 in Italy (225 MW).

www.bkw-fmb.ch