Italy's Enel has launched a public tender aimed at identifying “innovative, sustainable proposals” for the acquisition and redevelopment of the industrial site of the Pietro Vannucci power plant in Gualdo Cattaneo in the Province of Perugia, in central Italy.
The plant has two conventional 75 MW coal-fired units cooled with an air-water condenser.
It started operations in 1960 as a lignite-fired plant, and was converted to fuel oil in 1967. Between 1988 and 1991, the power plant was converted to use coal, “mainly reflecting the company’s decision to diversify the energy sources used to generate electricity” Enel explained, adding that following the decline in the electricity demand, the plant’s output fell significantly. “Between its entry into service and 2000, the plant operated continuously and constantly, while as from 2000 it was called upon to operate less regularly and on a more flexible and diversified basis" it said.
Therefore, Enel is now looking at redeveloping the generation facility.
This is part of a wider project involving some 23 plants across Italy. These are: are Trino Vercellese (province of Vercelli), Alessandria, Genoa, La Spezia, Carpi (Modena), Porto Tolle (Rovigo), Livorno, Piombino (Livorno), Camerata Picena (Ascoli Piceno), Pietrafitta (Perugia), Gualdo Cattaneo (Perugia), Montalto di Castro (Viterbo), Campo Marino (Campobasso), Larino (Campobasso), Maddaloni (Caserta), Giugliano (Napoli), Bari, Rossano (Cosenza), Termini Imerese (Palermo), Augusta (Siracusa), Portoscuso (Carbonia-Iglesias), the already disposed Porto Marghera (Venezia) and the already requalified Assemini (Cagliari).
“The decline in consumption, the development of renewable sources and the technological evolution of distribution grids are leading to an overall transformation of the entire power sector” Enel said, adding that “this transformation starts with traditional power plants, whose function is being re-conceived in order to meet the growing needs for environmental sustainability and energy efficiency and competitiveness, factors that affect both individuals and power companies.”“Enel is committed to leading a new industrial model based on adding value to those less efficient power plants, some of which have not been generating energy for some years, including as reserve capacity” the company added.
Applicants must present their statements of interest between November 30th, 2016 and April 4th, 2017. Rules are to be published on the website www.futur-e.