Nov 19 2010
The Tuscan geothermal centre, owned by Enel Green Power, has declared the start up of its Radicondoli 2, a geothermal plant in the province of Siena. The new facility will enable the plant to add 20 MW power production capabilities to its existing 40 MW production facility thus taking the installed capability of the plant to 60 MW.
Enel Green Power, with its hundred plus of years of exposure to geothermal power production, has completed the construction of the plant, which has received its construction approval during July 2009 in a record time of over one year.
The Radicondoli 2 geothermal power plant was built by the engineering units owned by Enel Green Power and incorporates novel features and an improved technology. The unique remote monitoring feature incorporated for the plant operation will allow supervising of the plant operations remotely to diagnose and avert the breakdowns while allowing the system to generate maximum geothermal power. The new power production facility meets all the requirements of ecological and landscape preservation standards. The new plant when operational with its full capability will generate over 140 million kWh of electric power, which can meet the power requirements of over 55,000 house holds. The plant will cut down the carbon dioxide discharge levels to the tune of 200,000 tons and save the use over 55,000 tons of fossil fuel ever year. The project, which was completed with full cooperation of the local energy authorities, includes deepening of an existing well and constructing of three new wells.
Francesco Starace, Enel Green Power’s CEO, called the current geothermal power production, a giant leap in the geothermal power capability of Italy, and added that the project confirms the leading technical know-how possessed by the country in geothermal power production.