Nov 07 - Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

Italy plans to build 500 more wind plants to become the biggest producer of wind energy, Italian News Agency ANSA reported on Tuesday.

With the help of the 500 additional plants Italy plans to reach a 23,000 gigawatt energy production -- ten times higher than what the country is currently producing.

The new wind farms will make Italy the world's biggest producer of wind energy, leapfrogging Germany which is now producing 22,622gigawatts.

In 2006 alone, 417 wind plants were built in Italy, situated mainly in the southern regions of Sicily, Puglia, Basilicata and Molise but also in the central region of Tuscany.

Wind energy is the most lucrative type of green energy and is attracting Italian investors such as diversified holding companiesMoratti and De Benedetti and big oil companies such as Garrone, according to Corriere della Sera.

Italian energy group Enel SpA is also searching for sites with steady wind out of Italy, in Europe.

Meanwhile, Spain's Endesa and Iberdrola are also building plants in Basilicata and Calabria.

The biggest investor in wind plants in Italy is the UK-based company International Power.

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