- The ceremony was also attended by the Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council Gianni Letta, by the President of Lazio Region Piero Marrazzo, by Enels top executives led by the Chairman Piero Gnudi and the CEO Fulvio Conti, and by local and regional political and religious authorities.
- It is the most advanced power plant in the world in its class: emissions will be reduced by up to 88%. CO2 also reduced by 18%.
Civitavecchia, 30 July 2008 The Minister for Economic Development Claudio Scajola today attended the ceremony for the inauguration of the first of the three units at Enels Civitavecchia power plant, after visiting the plant. Also in attendance with the Minister were the Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council Gianni Letta, the President of Lazio Region Piero Marrazzo, Enels top executives led by the Chairman Piero Gnudi and the CEO Fulvio Conti, and numerous local and regional political and religious authorities.
"The Torrevaldaliga Nord power plant, said Fulvio Conti, makes a major contribution to diversifying the national energy mix and to the security of supply, to reducing emissions and to enhancing the competitiveness of Italys electricity system, in line with the European energy policy ".
The refurbished plant will meet 50% of electricity demand in Lazio, equal to about 4% of domestic consumption. Thanks to the use of the most advanced technologies available today, the plant (which will be fully operational in 2009) will be the most efficient in its class and will significantly reduce environmental impact. Compared with the previous oil-fired plant, all emissions will be greatly reduced - nitrogen oxides by 61%, particulates and sulphur dioxide by 88% - and, through this, emissions will be 50% below the stringent levels set by European Union health and environmental legislation. Furthermore, the systems for coal transport and handling are completely sealed, meaning the fuel never comes in contact with the open air.
Enels total investment amounts to about 2 billion euros. The construction works employed 3,500 people (as well as 450 Enel technicians), equivalent to about 15 million worked hours (20 million at project completion), from 200 companies, of which 70 are local.
The plant, with a total capacity of 1,980 MW, is composed of three units, one fewer than the old plant. This capacity reduction will also reduce carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) by 18%. Moreover, Enel is working on developing CO2 capture and sequestration through a number of cutting-edge projects. The goal of these projects, which are considered by the European Commission to be among the most interesting ones in this area, is zero-emission fossil fuel power generation. Through CO2 capture and sequestration technologies flue gas will be captured at the chimney and stored safely, in deep aquifers or in exhausted methane or oil fields.