Rome, August 5th, 2010 The Ministry for the Environment and Enel reach agreement for environmental protection and development of the Brindisi area. Enel and the Ministry have signed a comprehensive accord for the protection of areas in the national interest zone at Brindisi, which includes the "Federico II" power plant.
The agreement paves the way for projects with a high environmental value, first and foremost the construction of an advanced coal cover system near the plant in areas that were previously not available.
Under today's agreement, Enel will help secure the entire Brindisi aquifer and has expressed its willingness to undertake further substantial investments to be completed by 2013.
In line with the requests of local authorities, the environmental enhancement effort will involve: covering coal stocks at the power plant; inlet heaters and low-pressure stages of turbines to reduce specific fuel consumption; the crystallizer for the treatment of waste water; circuits to improve the efficiency of the environmental system; the sleeve filters and air-gas fans of units 3 and 4; the upgrading of coal mills; new drive systems for air fans; and the implementation of the pilot CO2 separation plant. These projects will require a total investment by Enel of 300 million euros, of which 60 million euros have already been spent.
THE PLANT
The "Federico II" plant is one of Enel's largest thermal power plants. It covers an area of approximately 270 hectares and is connected to the port of Costa Morena by a fuel transport system just over 13 km long. The system is a major feat of engineering, making it possible to move the fuel needed to power the plant in complete safety and with minimal environmental impact. The plant has storage facilities for about 750,000 tonnes of coal storage tanks as well as fuel-oil.
The use of sophisticated pollutant reduction systems, underscored by the plant's ISO 14001 environmental certification, make the facility one of the most efficient and cleanest around, burning competitive fuels in full compliance with the stringent environmental standards imposed by national legislation and the additional restrictions imposed by local authorities.
The plant, which has a total capacity of 2,640 MW (four 660 MW steam-driven units), began commercial operations in 1997. It currently meets about 5% of Italy's national electricity demand.