San Donato Milanese, 03 July 2017 - Eni and GSE presented today at the Saline Conti Vecchi, the photovoltaic plant of the capacity of 26 MWp under construction at the industrial site of Assemini in the province of Cagliari. The plant is part of the Progetto Italia project, the set of initiatives that Eni is carrying out in order to exploit, in a sustainable perspective, its abandoned industrial areas, particularly in Southern Italy.
The event is the result of the Eni-GSE collaboration agreement, signed last 6 June 2017, with which the two companies have followed the commitments made by implementing technologies for the production of electricity from renewable sources, enhancing the territory through the revival of employment and supporting the sustainable economy. Thanks to a maximum power of 26 MWp, the energy produced by the solar panels installed will feed the cycle of salt production, produced by the company Conti Vecchi, covering about 70% of total energy consumption. In this sense, Eni and GSE are at the forefront of supporting circular economy policies that promote sustainable development through the reduction of CO2 emissions and the reuse of soil. Eni has identified Assemini's pole as an area for the development of technologies in the field of renewable energy enhancing the context, with the aim of creating a permanent laboratory for technological development in the environmental and energy field and to create technologically advanced plants such as CSP ( Concentrated Solar Power), developed in collaboration with the Milan Polytechnic and the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). For Eni, circularity is a strategic driver to be applied to all businesses, transforming existing assets and giving them new life and a sustainable future. The Eni efficiency model aims at the continuous evolution in terms of growth, leading to the regeneration of what has been built in the past, according to new perspectives, with the aim of self-sustaining, eliminating waste and losses. For the implementation of the site development project, which does not benefit from any direct incentives, GSE provided the know-how acquired in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sector, completing the analysis on the environmental and socio-economic advantages of the Progetto Italia that Eni is doing.
«With Progetto Italia we aim to give new life to the Syndial industrial areas already undergoing reclamation and available to host large scale renewable energy plants. The investment of 260 million euros will lead to the production of around 0,4 TWh / year of electricity from renewable sources in Italy. This plant at the Saline, with a power of 26 MWp and an expected production of about 42 GWh / year, consolidates our strategy based on the commitment that for years has been lavished on the territory to actively take part in the transition of the energy mix towards a low carbon future », Claudio Descalzi, Eni's CEO.
"Exactly one year after the signing, the agreement between Eni and GSE produces the first concrete effects in favor of sustainable development and the fight against climate change", said the President of the GSE, Francesco Sperandini, explaining that "the installed photovoltaic system here in Assemini it constitutes an added value in terms of circular economy, reduction of CO2, employment, relaunch and enhancement of the territory. This is the path taken by the GSE ", he concluded," for a long time engaged on several fronts to promote and disseminate models of environmental sustainability that can be replicated throughout Italy ".