SSE has taken a final investment decision to proceed with its first onshore wind farm projects in Italy.

Construction work is expected to begin in the coming weeks on SSE Renewables’ Castel Favorito and Masseria la Cattiva wind farm sites in Puglia in Southern Italy.

The two projects will have a combined installed capacity of 17.3MW comprising five onshore wind turbines.

Siemens Gamesa has been selected to supply and install five SG 3.4-132 MW turbines across the project sites. SSE Renewables is targeting completion and reaching commercial operation in 2026.

Delivery of the projects will help support the local economy and supply chain in Puglia, with around 70 construction roles expected to be supported at peak delivery.

Once completed the wind farms will be capable of generating enough renewable energy to power around 6,000 homes annually.

The addition of these two latest onshore wind projects takes SSE’s expanding Southern European portfolio of in-construction sites to more than 100MW.

In France, SSE Renewables is commissioning and testing installed turbines at its 28MW Chaintrix wind farm, which is expected to enter commercial operations in early 2025, while building work is also underway on the company’s 64MW Jubera onshore wind project in Spain, which is targeting delivery in 2025.

Gianluca Mercurio, country manager for SSE Renewables in Italy said: “We are delighted to be starting construction on our Castel Favorito and Masseria la Cattiva wind farms in Puglia.

“These are strategic projects for SSE Renewables as they are our first wind farms to enter construction in Italy. We are now looking forward to working with our supply chain partners to safely and successfully deliver each of these onshore wind farms.

“When complete, these wind farms will play an important role in generating homegrown renewable energy from Puglia for Italian energy consumers, helping strengthen security of supply and meeting vital climate targets.”

Across Southern Europe, SSE Renewables is working in Italy, Spain, France and Greece to deliver an overall pipeline of around 2.3GW of secured and 2.1GW of future prospect onshore wind and grid-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage projects.