Portoscuso

The plant

Main data
The plant includes two thermal units of 160 MW each, with boilers using heavy fuel oil with a very low sulfur content. The plant was originally designed to work with a "bleed" of steam able to provide heat to external industries. Subsequent changes during construction, aimed at full utilization of all the steam produced, have maintained unchanged the inherent capacity of the cogeneration plant.

Recent events
The plant was declared no longer essential for the functioning of the power distribution network in Sardinia by Terna and the Ministry of Economic Development, with instant AIA decadence that allowed a maximum operating 740 hours / year for each unit, always subject to the "essentiality" regime provided for the network. The AIA forfeiture involved presenting a formal request to the Ministry of Economic Development and Terna that the plant should be put out of service.

The last decade has seen a gradual reduction of  activities. The last call for operations was in May of 2012, in response to the emergency caused by an international gas crisis. Built in the industrial zone, it ws put into service in 1973.

The territory
A seaside town and harbor for the Phoenicians, Romans and Carthaginians, in the sixteenth century it took its modern configuration hosting tuna fishermen in the "Hidden Port" - this is the origin of the name from Puerto Escuso in Spanish - giving birth to the actual town.

Industry and tourism are two faces of today’s economy of the Portoscuso area. In the area of ​​Portovesme industrial settlements generated over the years different pollution problems, including the phenomenon of the so-called red mud, linked to the presence of a collection basin of bauxite processing waste.

Environmental problems have not prevented the area from developing in the touristic sector by offering services that allow to enjoy the natural beauty of places such as the island of San Pietro, Cala Lunga, or the Sugarloaf, limestone cliff 133 meters high, that in the eighteenth century was been renamed afterthe Pao de Azucar in Rio de Janeiro bay for the similarity with the famous Brazilian headland.