Torrevaldaliga Nord power station
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Torrevaldaliga Nord Power Station is a 1,980-megawatt (MW) coal plant in Civitavecchia, Rome province, Lazio, Italy.
The plant is planned for retirement in 2025, as part of Italy's coal phase out plans. Plant owner Enel plans to build up to 1,680 MW of gas-fired capacity at the plant site.[1]
Contents
Location
The undated satellite photo below shows the plant, which is near Civitavecchia, Rome province.
Background on coal plant
The plant is owned by Enel Produzione SpA, and first consisted of four oil-fired 660 MW units. The units were replaced with three 660 MW coal-fired units, for a total installed capacity of 1,980 MW.[2][3]
Power in Europe reported in April 2008 that the replacement project had encountered stiff opposition including hunger strikes in May 2007. A year before, in February 2006, regional authorities suspended the project on the grounds that the company lacked full authorization for the coal loading jetty. In March 2006 Enel appealed the decision and, in May, was cleared to proceed.[4]
The three coal units were completed in July 2008,[5][2] and commissioned in 2009-2010.[6]
Retirement and replacement with gas
In October 2017, Italy said it planned to phase out coal power by 2025,[7] requiring Enel to retire the Torrevaldaliga Nord coal plant by 2025. Enel plans to build 1120 MW of gas peaker on the site of the Torrevaldaliga Nord power station, possibly to be increased to 1,680 MW with combined cycle technology.[1]
Public opposition
Environmental groups and concerned citizens have continued to monitor and fight against the plant in recent years:
In October 2011, Legambiente and other groups held a protest in Civitavecchia to highlight Torrevaldaliga's high emissions of C02 (6.7 million tons in 2010, far exceeding the 5 million tons officially allowed by the Italian government).[8]
In August 2012 Civitavecchia mayor Pietro Tidei, citing high levels of pollution from the plant, signed an ordinance stating his intention to have Torrevaldaliga Nord closed.[9]
In March 2013, Legambiente lamented that hearings to renew Torrevaldaliga's environmental license (the first such hearings in four years) lasted only a single session, and that suggestions from citizens and environmental groups were generally disregarded, even as the plant was allowed to increase its carbon monoxide emissions and bypass other environmental regulations.[10]
In a 2013 report, the Fondazione Culturale Responsabilità Etica noted that: "Civitavecchia is in the first place in the Lazio region and the third in Italy for mortality rate due to lung, trachea and bronchial cancer, with a significantly higher spreading of leukaemia and lymphomas comparing to the national average. The spread of asthma, allergies and other respiratory syndromes among children and youths living in Civitavecchia is by far the highest in the Lazio Region."[11]
Project Details
- Sponsor: Enel
- Parent company:
- Location: Civitavecchia, Rome province, Lazio, Italy
- Coordinates: 42.1269, 11.7583 (exact)
- Gross capacity (operating): 1,980 MW
- Unit 1: 660 MW (2009) - Ultra-Supercritical coal
- Unit 2: 660 MW (2010) - Ultra-Supercritical coal
- Unit 3: 660 MW (2010) - Ultra-Supercritical coal
- Gross capacity (proposed): 1,680 MW
- Combined-cycle: 1,680 MW
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Phase-out carbone, entro 12 mesi il cronoprogramma per Civitavecchia," A & E, Oct 10, 2019
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "ENEL Torrevaldaliga Nord Thermal Power Plant Italy," Global Energy Observatory, accessed April 2014.
- ↑ "Coal Plants in Italy", Assocarboni website, accessed April 2014.
- ↑ "PiE’s new power plant project tracker – April 2008", Power in Europe, Issue 523, April 7, 2008, page 29.
- ↑ "Italy’s Enel opens new coal-fired power plant," ft, July 31, 2008
- ↑ "ECOGAVO system at Torrevaldaliga Nord," Babcock Borsig Steinmüller GmbH, accessed May 2015
- ↑ "Italy to phase out coal by 2025," E3G, Oct 24, 2017
- ↑ "Contro il carbone, Legambiente Lazio aderisce alla manifestazione a Civitavecchia," Legambiente, October 29, 2011.
- ↑ "Il Sindaco di Civitavecchia: 'Chiuderò la centrale Enel'", QualEnergia, August 1, 2012.
- ↑ "Centrale a carbone di Civitavecchia, autorizzazione rilasciata senza tenere conto osservazioni comitati e cittadini", Legambiente, March 14, 2013.
- ↑ "ENEL - Annual General Meeting 2013: Questions on Point n°1 of the AGM Agenda", Fondazione Culturale Responsabilità Etica, 2013.
Related SourceWatch articles
External resources
[[Category: Proposed coal plants in Europe]
