Annual Report 2010 - Enel.com
Annual Report 2010 - Enel.com
Annual Report 2010 - Enel.com
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currently under way, is expected to be <strong>com</strong>pleted by the<br />
second Half of 2011. Geological surveys have also begun<br />
in two areas (in Castille and Aragon) that are candidates<br />
for geological CO storage.<br />
2<br />
Finally, <strong>Enel</strong>’s efforts in Italy in the area of oxygenated<br />
<strong>com</strong>bustion are focused on evaluating innovative systems<br />
of high-pressure oxygenated <strong>com</strong>bustion.<br />
Pre-<strong>com</strong>bustion capture<br />
In the area of pre-<strong>com</strong>bustion capture, which uses fossil<br />
fuel gasification technologies, <strong>Enel</strong> has focused on systems<br />
for generating power using the hydrogen produced<br />
by the separation process. In <strong>2010</strong>, testing continued on<br />
the hydrogen-fed plant in Fusina (Venezia). This 16 MWe<br />
plant was inaugurated in July and is the world’s first gasturbine<br />
plant to be fueled by pure hydrogen.<br />
Coal gasification was also pursued at the Group level<br />
through the joint participation of Endesa and <strong>Enel</strong> in the<br />
Elcogas plant in Puertollano, Spain.<br />
Improving the efficiency of coal<br />
plants<br />
Increasing the efficiency of coal-fired plants is a crucial enabling<br />
factor for improving environmental performance<br />
and for developing CO capture and storage technologies.<br />
2<br />
In <strong>2010</strong>, <strong>Enel</strong> confirmed its keen <strong>com</strong>mitment to and leadership<br />
in a European consortium studying <strong>com</strong>ponents<br />
that have been optimized for high-efficiency coal-fired<br />
plants. In just a few years, the development of technologies<br />
and materials able to reach operating temperatures<br />
of up to 700 °C will make it possible to construct plants<br />
with efficiency rates of greater than 50%.<br />
In <strong>2010</strong>, <strong>Enel</strong> finalized the <strong>com</strong>pany’s candidacy for a research<br />
program coordinated by VGB PowerTech in order<br />
to construct a pilot system at <strong>Enel</strong>’s Fusina (VE) plant to<br />
test innovative materials (nickel alloys) at 700 °C. Europe’s<br />
leading utility and construction <strong>com</strong>panies are participating<br />
in the project.<br />
Reducing emissions<br />
Work continues to develop emission-control technologies,<br />
a field in which <strong>Enel</strong> has a great deal of experience.<br />
> Mercury: oxidation testing has continued on selective<br />
catalytic reduction (SCR) systems at the La Spezia pilot<br />
138 <strong>Enel</strong> <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> <strong>2010</strong> <strong>Report</strong> on operations<br />
plant, and lab testing has been <strong>com</strong>pleted on the lowtemperature<br />
catalytic oxidation of mercury. In addition,<br />
lab testing is under way regarding the adsorption of<br />
mercury in a desulfurization system.<br />
> Particulates: work has been <strong>com</strong>pleted on the development<br />
of an integrated method for assessing the contribution<br />
of coal plants to the concentration of atmospheric<br />
particulate matter in the surrounding areas.<br />
> Hydrochloric acid: the process of reducing hydrochloric<br />
acid in overheated steam in geothermal plants through<br />
the dry injection of sodium bicarbonate has been successfully<br />
enhanced.<br />
> Ammonia: a process has been analyzed in order to reduce<br />
the emission of ammonia by geothermal plants.<br />
Endesa has programs under way to increase the environmental<br />
efficiency of conventional plants. These programs<br />
concern the optimization of performance (the<br />
CFB500 program), the development of new adsorbent<br />
substrates based on amines in order to capture CO in 2<br />
flue gases (Novare CO SOLSORB) and of hybrid filter<br />
2<br />
systems using plasma (Novare Plasmacol), and the constant<br />
monitoring of emissions of heavy metals, and of<br />
mercury in particular.<br />
Renewable energy power<br />
generation<br />
The growth in renewable power generation is a key element<br />
of sustainable development strategies in the energy<br />
industry. A number of forms of renewable power generation<br />
(such as photovoltaic) have already reached a good<br />
level of technological maturity, but their costs are too high<br />
and they are still too inefficient for them to be used effectively<br />
on a large scale in a context of declining economic<br />
incentives. Others are still being developed. Research in<br />
this field is focusing both on improving existing technologies<br />
in order to reduce costs and increase efficiency and<br />
on developing new concepts in power generation.<br />
<strong>Enel</strong> is working on all of the leading renewable power<br />
generation technologies, including: photovoltaic solar<br />
(studying and monitoring the performance of <strong>com</strong>mercial<br />
and other innovative systems in real applications); thermal<br />
solar (developing innovative system designs with a<br />
focus on increasing efficiency and reducing costs); wind<br />
(forecasting power generation); biomass and other technologies<br />
such as innovative geothermal, wave energy, and
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