Saipem has agreed with renewable energy companies AGNES and QINT'X to install 56 wind turbines at two sites off the coast of Italian port city Ravenna, it said in a statement.

The project's contract value could be worth up to 600 million euros ($710 million) for Saipem, said a source close to the matter.

"Saipem plans to start a similar (wind) project in Sicily and in Sardinia," said Mauro Piasere, chief operating officer of Saipem's XSIGHT division, which offers engineering services for the renewables sector among others.

Saipem, a market leader in subsea exploration and construction, has been looking increasingly to offshore wind as part of a move to develop new lines of business to meet a growing client focus on green technologies.

Last year it signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi-based Plambeck Emirates to build a 500 MW floating wind farm off the cost of Saudi Arabia.

(Reporting by Stephen Jewkes; Editing by David Goodman)