Blunova sells 50% stake of floating offshore wind project in Italy to Edison

The project, named Wind Energy Pozzallo, consists of a 975MW floating offshore wind farm in development, located near the municipality of Pozzallo on the southern coast of Sicily. Voltiq acted as financial advisor for Blunova, the owner and developer of the wind project, as it sold a 50% stake in the project to Italian utility Edison, part of EDF Group, and signed a partnership agreement for the joint development of the wind farm.

Blunova is a subsidiary of the Carlo Maresca Group specialized in the construction and management of plants for the production of renewable energy (solar and wind), energy efficiency and green hydrogen. Blunova manages the entire production chain, from site identification to design, from project construction to connection to the national electricity grid, from management to maintenance, ensuring plant and engineering works of the highest level. In the five-year period from 2019 to 2023, Blunova emerged as the top Italian renewables operator with approximately 550 MW of authorized and auctioned projects with the 2019 FER Decree. Approximately 300 MW of these are built and in operation and the remainder is under construction with expected grid connection by December 2024. In 2023, Blunova was also the top ranking Italian operator by installed MW of solar PV systems connected to the Italian grid with 184 MWp.

Edison is one of the top utility companies in Italy, third operator in terms of capacity installed, and the oldest energy company in Europe, with 140 years of history. It carries out integrated activities along the entire electricity supply chain, and is active in gas and renewables including hydropower. In 2012 it was acquired by EDF Group, a French multinational utility.

Voltiq was hired as exclusive sell-side advisor to Blunova. In this role, Voltiq engaged in detailed preparations of the infopack to potential investors including Teaser and Information Memorandum, as well as DD information. Subsequently, Voltiq sounded the global market for investors interested in the (floating) offshore wind space, creating a shortlist, after which interested parties were invited to analyze the opportunity and put in their NBOs. In the follow-up stage, Voltiq supported in negotiations and structuring the transaction with the preferred bidder, Edison, and kept on giving support to the sale-purchase process until closing.

In Italy, there has only been one offshore windfarm built to date, using fixed bottom turbine technology, making this transaction an important step towards the advancement of the nascent floating wind sector in the country. The innovative technology of floating offshore wind is expected to play a large role in  Italy's effort to decarbonise and achieve its renewable energy targets.

Additional information can be found in the press release by Edison.