Piombino

The plant

Main data
The traditional Rankine cycle power plant is fed by fuel oil and consists of 4 sections, each  with a capacity of 320 MW. In addition to the structures and equipment connected with the production, it is equipped with a deposit for mineral oils consisting of 4 tanks, 50,000 cm each and a 100,000 cubic tank. The 4 boilers of combustion fumes are conveyed towards the outside through two chimneys  200 m high; water effluents are processed in a centralised plant for wastewater treatment.

Recent events

In 2015, permission to decommission the Piombino plant, which had became marginal to the Italian electricity market, was granted by the Ministry of Economic Development (Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico). Enel subsequently prepared a plan to decommission the site which was approved by the Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea (Ministero dell’Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio e del Mare) in 2017.

The power plant has been part of the Futur-e project since 2015. Following the request for bids, Enel signed a preliminary agreement for the sale of the area to Stigliano Sviluppo srl, which is working with the regional and municipal authorities on aspects of city planning and the preparation of the permits necessary for activating the repurposing project.

In line with the inspiring principles behind Futur-e, the site will be developed along the guidelines of social, economic and environmental sustainability and in collaboration with local institutions. The plan will include various areas for commercial, tourist welcome and recreational activities, as well as scientific research and experimental agriculture. The project is being fine-tuned with the local institutions in order to guarantee its feasibility and sustainability in meeting the needs and expectations of the communities they represent. Where possible, work on the site will be organised so that the decontamination activity, led by Enel, and the demolition and new construction, led by Stigliano Sviluppo srl, will occur at the same time, thereby reducing the preparation period for the rebirth of the site.

The territory
Industry and the sea are the two main areas of the economy of Piombino, the first linked in particular to the age-old tradition of iron and steel, while the second results in fishing, tourism and trade. The port of Piombino, which is currently being extended, is the second largest airport of Tuscany after Livorno.

One can breathe the millennial history of the city walking both in the town and in the surrounding area. Churches and cathedrals, civil and military buildings and then the long series of coastal towers, including Torre del Sale, which gives its name to Enel’s plant, tell the glorious past of Piombino that has its origins in the Etruscan civilization and arrives until the second World War.
 
The parks of Val di Cornia offer a unique opportunity to immerse in a land boundary between the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian seas made of gulfs, hills and headlands protected thanks to several natural parks such as those Sterpaia of Ramigliano, Montioni or the oasis of Orti-Bottagone managed by the WWF.