There Is No Going Back: Ksenia Balanda on Floating Offshore Wind in Italy!

Ksenia has spent nearly 20 years at the absolute edge of the energy business. She started with building a 45-person team in nine months in Russia to mastering Italian in "survival mode," her career has been defined by rapid scale and frontier markets.

Now, as the Head of Offshore Wind Italy for Nadara, Ksenia is leading one of the most ambitious energy projects in the Mediterranean: the development of six floating offshore wind farms across Southern Italy and Sardinia, representing a massive 5 GW of capacity.

In this conversation with Tom Essex, Ksenia breaks down what floating offshore wind actually requires to succeed, why Italy’s regulatory environment is currently the biggest bottleneck, and how the country’s ports and supply chains are quietly preparing for a generational industrial shift.

• The "Generalist" Advantage: How starting in economics led Ksenia to lead billion-euro energy projects.
• Rapid Scale: The reality of building a 45-person renewable energy team from scratch in just nine months.
• The Mediterranean Opportunity: Why floating wind in Italy is a global game-changer and a gateway for the region.
• The "Three Projects in Parallel" Strategy: Understanding the unique complexity of developing floating technology.
• Regulatory Bottlenecks: Navigating Italy’s policy gaps and what needs to change to unlock construction.
• The Talent Shift: Upskilling workers from legacy coal and naval industries for the offshore future.
• Frontier Leadership: The art of hiring talent and then getting out of their way.
• WindEurope Insights: Key takeaways from Madrid regarding the future of wind in Italy, Portugal, and Greece.

• Guest: Ksenia Balanda (Head of Offshore Wind Italy, Nadara)
• Host: Tom Essex

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