With a capacity of 199 kWe and 1.2 MWt, the trigeneration mini-biomass plant already meets 40% of the heating requirement and 60% of the cooling requirement of Luxottica’s Agordo factory in the province of Belluno
Agordo (Belluno), September 22nd, 2017 - The new trigeneration mini-biomass plant built by Enel was inaugurated today for the historic Luxottica factory in the town of Agordo, in the province of Belluno. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Francesco Venturini, Director of Enel’s Global e-Solutions division, and Giorgio Striano, Chief Operating Officer of Luxottica.
Thanks to its capacity of 199 kWe and 1.2 MWt, the plant already meets 40% of the heating requirement and 60% of the cooling requirement of the factory, allowing, for the first time, the use of trigeneration “renewable heat” for the manufacture of eyeglasses and the reduction of fossil fuel consumption. Since June, the plant has been supplying electricity in addition to thermal energy.
“This project represents a first important step towards the creation of a network of small-scale distributed generation plants serving businesses across the country. The choice of Luxottica as our partner was inspired by our shared commitment to important values, such as attention to the environmental, social and economic sustainability of the territory”, said Francesco Venturini, Director of Enel's Global e-Solutions division. “We will continue to work with local stakeholders to foster the creation of an even shorter supply chain, with materials sourced exclusively from the valley of Agordo. We will also provide our partner with low-cost, green thermal energy, which will help reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and polluting atmospheric emissions.”
“The cutting-edge project we are developing with Enel at Agordo is part of our local sustainable development model, focusing on reducing water, energy consumption, CO2 emissions and waste. We are continuing to invest in our Italian factories in order to reconcile our growth in production and employment with the respect for and enhancement of the environment, attention to local needs and minimising the impact of industrial activities”, explained Giorgio Striano, Chief Operating Officer of Luxottica. “The Group, along the entire value chain, is adopting an energy policy based on the containment of consumption and the use of clean energy. This is how the first biomass facility was established in 2014 at the nearby Cencenighe plant and the photovoltaic plant at the Lauriano factory.”
The plant is the fruit of the shared objective of Enel and Luxottica to create a path for environmental and social sustainability within the territory of Agordo, an area of great natural value that has been included in the National Strategy for the Development of Internal Areas. The plant is fuelled with forest by-products and waste provided by local suppliers.
One of the cornerstones of the project has been the involvement of local institutions, in particular the Unione Montana Agordina and the municipality of Agordo, in jointly identifying a process to shorten the supply chain even further, using certified quality biomass produced exclusively in the valley of Agordo and neighbouring municipalities, within a range of 30-40 km (the so-called "super-short" supply chain). The biomass will be sourced from local businesses, thereby generating local economic and social benefits. Once completed, the process will help keep the forests cleaner and improve their management, contributing to reducing hydrogeological instability in the area.