Enel SpA (ENEL.MI) said Wednesday it inaugurated the first unit of a new Italian coal-fired power plant in which its total investments amount to about EUR2 billion and it is scheduled to be fully operational next year, as the utility aims to diversify its fuel mix.
Enel said it inaugurated the first of the three units at the Torrevaldaliga Nord facility which will have a total capacity of 1,980 megawatts, or equal to about 4% of domestic consumption. The plant, which was converted from running on more expensive fuel oil to coal, is located in Civitavecchia, north of Rome.
The plant "makes a major contribution to diversifying the national energy mix and to the security of supply, to reducing emissions and to enhancing the competitiveness of Italy's electricity system, in line with the European energy policy," said Chief Executive Fulvio Conti in a statement.
The new facility will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 18%, nitrogen oxides by 61% and sulfur oxides by 88%, Enel said.