Yesterday, Enel SpA, opened the world’s first industrial scale hydrogen plant in Fusina, Venice.
The facility boasts production capacities sufficient to meet the annual needs of 20,000 households, whilst it produces over 17,000 metric tons less of CO₂ emissions than usual supplies.
The globally unique plant offers an overall capacity of 16MW and comprises a hydrogen-fuelled combined cycle plant, which generates both electricity and heat with an output of 12 MW. The remaining 4 MW of power is created by capturing the emitted heat and generating high-temperature steam. This is then sent to a nearby coal-fired plant to produce the supplementary power.
The unit’s hourly hydrogen consumption sits at 1.3 metric tons, and has an overall efficiency of 42% while also being emission free. In total, the plant will produce 60 million kWh of electricity per year. The event was inaugurated by Fulvio Conti, CEO and General Manager of Enel; Luca Zaia, President of the Veneto Region; and Francesca Zaccariotto, President of the Province of Venice.
The facility, located on the site of Enel’s ‘Andrea Palladio’ plant, will obtain hydrogen as a by-product from the nearby petrochemical facility of Porto Marghera, in Venice. Furthermore, overall construction cost approximately €50m.
... to continue reading you must be subscribed
