The choice of the technology

Within the framework of the current market liberalisation, the existing plant is hardly exploited  due to the high  costs of oil and will likely be shut down without a structural project aimed at increasing its competiveness.

Moreover, the cost of electricity in Italy is substantially higher than other European tariffs, because its energy production mix is heavily dependent on gas and oil (over 60%). These  are expensive sources of energy supplied by countries with unstable  scenarios , while electricity in Europe is mostly dependent on nuclear energy and coal (over 56%).

Coal is the world’s primary fuel for electricity generation because it’s largely available and can be easily supplied at competitive costs.

It is widely used mainly because it is safe to handle and transport and  is not flammable, nor explosive.

The oil-to-coal conversion project therefore aims at:

• re-launching a power station which could otherwise be shut down, turning it competitive on the current market
• reducing electricity generation costs
• diversifying the energy production mix
• ensuring a greater amount of supplies