Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners Remains Eager to Invest in Italian Offshore Wind

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, a Danish firm eager to invest in Italian offshore wind farms, is getting impatient.

Two years after the country's 2024 law offered incentives to would-be developers to provide offshore wind capacity, the government has yet to announce a calendar for auctions it said it would hold by 2028.

The inertia reflects a reluctance to embrace the transition from fossil fuels as a complex and polarised international debate pits clean energy campaigners against some governments and companies. U.S. President Donald Trump has led the support for continued use of oil and gas.

For Italian families and firms, the pain is acute from a surge in fossil fuel prices since U.S.-Israeli airstrikes started the Iran war at the end of February.

They are particularly exposed because of the extent to which Italy relies on imported natural gas.

Michele Schiavone, Italian country manager for Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners' offshore delivery arm, said Rome's foot-dragging on offshore wind meant it could miss out on a sector fundamental to its future energy security.

"The (government's) silence is not just preventing us going forwards, it is taking us backwards," he said. "It's an own-goal that is too bad to be true."

ITALY'S GAS