Edison: new next-generation power plant in Campania

The Presenzano (CE) plant was built with an investment of more than 450 million euros and, together with the Marghera Levante plant opened by Edison in 2023, is among the most advanced natural gas thermoelectric plants in the world and the most efficient in Italy.

The new plant is highly advanced in terms of both technology and materials used and is capable of meeting the equivalent annual needs of more than 1,500,000 households, similar to that of a city like Rome. Thanks to Ansaldo Energia's Italian technology, the plant has a turbine already adapted and ready for the use of hydrogen as a fuel and is able to cut specific emissions of nitrogen oxides by up to 60 percent and carbon dioxide emissions by up to 30 percent compared to the average of the current Italian thermoelectric park .1

Milan - Presenzano (CE), Oct. 22, 2024 - Edison delivers to the country a new state-of-the-art combined-cycle thermoelectric power plant, an excellence in Italian technological and energy innovation. The new plant is located in Presenzano, in the province of Caserta and, together with its sister plant in Porto Marghera (VE) inaugurated by Edison last year, is among the most advanced and efficient plants in the world, the most efficient in Italy.

Edison, with the construction and commissioning of this second combined-cycle plant, confirms its leadership role in the energy transition and security of the national energy system as it strives to achieve the decarbonization goals set by the PNIEC.

"From record to record we confirm our role as a pioneer in Italy of technologically advanced plants and as a responsible operator, which with a long-term vision plans and invests for the country's future. In the last two years we have put into operation 1,500 MW of new programmable power, the most advanced in the world and the first of its kind in Italy, and at the same time we have invested heavily in renewable energy, putting into operation new 100 MW in Sicily and 50 MW in Piedmont, in addition to which to date we have about 260 MW of new renewable sites already open throughout the country - comments Marco Stangalino, EVP Power Asset of Edison. Thanks to the two new plants in Presenzano and Marghera, Edison guarantees the country a highly strategic production capacity for the stability of the national system, enabling the development of lowcarbon energies themselves and contributing to Italian and European decarbonization goals."

The construction of the Presenzano power plant required an investment of more than 450 million euros and nearly four years of work, involving more than 1,200 employees and 130 supplier companies . The plant has an installed capacity of 770 MW and is capable of meeting the equivalent annual needs of more than 1,500,000 households. The power plant uses a high-efficiency GT36 class H natural gas turbine, developed by Ansaldo Energia, which allows for energy efficiency of about 63%, one of the highest in Europe and the highest in Italy, ensuring a reduction in specific carbon dioxide emissions of up to 30% to the average of the current Italian thermoelectric park. In addition, the plant has very high environmental performance ensuring nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions more than 60 percent lower than existing plants of similar size, as well as limited use of water resources due to the adoption of air cooling systems. The plant is named after Flavio Crescentini, an Edison manager who died prematurely and who played a crucial role as the person responsible for the start-up and commissioning of previous combined-cycle plants developed by Edison since 1992.

Great attention was paid to harmonizing the plant with the ecosystem structures in the area. Therefore, on an area of more than 3 hectares close to the plant, both tree and shrub curtains (about 140 trees and 1,000 shrubs) were planted. The very color choice of the plant's surfaces was dictated by careful analysis, aimed at favoring its assonance with the surrounding landscape elements.

During the works for its construction, a number of archaeological finds dating back to both the Bronze Age and the period between the 6th and 5th centuries B.C. were unearthed during the excavation phases involving the area of the power plant and the routes of the methane pipeline and the power line. The collection, cataloguing and restoration were handled by the Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the provinces of Caserta and Benevento. Some of these finds are preserved inside the same plant in a space dedicated to them.

Edison has strong ties with Campania and actively participates in the economic and social life of this region. It is present in the region through all of the Group's main activities, from electricity generation to electricity and gas sales and energy and environmental services. In addition, Edison owns and operates more than 340 MW of wind power plants in the region, representing about 10 percent of its installed renewable capacity; and it is completing the construction of new photovoltaic power, amounting to 28 MW, which will come on line in 2025.

Edison's plant fleet

With 7.2 GW of installed power distributed throughout the country, Edison covers 7 percent of domestic electricity generation. It is an integrated operator along the entire electricity supply chain: from power generation to the operation and maintenance of generation parks, to sales to end customers. In 2023, Edison produced 18.7 TWh of electricity, including 4.5 terawatt-hours of green energy (wind, photovoltaic and hydroelectric), which avoided the emission of 1.9 million tons of CO₂ into the atmosphere.

Edison's production fleet consists of 132 hydroelectric power plants, 53 wind farms, 57 photovoltaic fields, and 10 highly efficient combined gas cycles (CCGTs), which allow for balancing the intermittency of renewable sources.