The plant – designed as a multi-shaft unit with the gas and steam turbines each driving their own generator – will make a significant contribution to reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in Italy and balance fluctuating feed-in from renewables like wind and solar power plants to the grid.
The project is being executed in a consortium with Italian engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) companies Fata and Demont. The utility EP Produzione is owner and operator.
The power plant will use the HL-class gas turbine technology from Siemens Energy, which enables maximum utilisation of natural gas and is designed to be fired with up to 30% hydrogen in addition to natural gas in future.
The installed electrical output will be 880 MW, which is sufficient to supply more than half a million Italian households with electricity. Completion is scheduled for spring 2025. Thanks to an air-cooled condenser (ACC), it’s not necessary to draw water from the nearby River Po to cool the power plant.
Nitrogen oxide emission levels (below 10 mg/Nm3), and a flexible operating range accompanied by minimised fuel consumption, ensure that the new power plant sets sustainability and environmental protection benchmarks.
Karim Amin, Member of the Executive Board of Siemens Energy, said its HL gas turbine technology will make a very decisive contribution to the success of the energy transition in Italy and globally.
He said, “We need highly efficient and flexible gas-fired power plants in the energy mix to ramp up generation capacity to bridge the intermittence of renewables. Furthermore, our gas turbines can be operated with a mix of natural gas and green hydrogen, which will be an important feature of sustainable energy in the future.
Luca Alippi, CEO of EP Produzione, said the new unit will secure investment in jobs in Ostiglia and ensures that for at least 20 years it will need gas power generation aside of increasing renewables and storage facilities.
He added, “As the system needs gas to power generation, more than ever current times highlight the need of very efficient plant, utilising gas at the best with the lowest possible emissions. We are pleased to implement such an investment, as well as of the fact that the project will additionally include improvement on the existing units.”
Siemens Energy’s scope of supply includes an SGT5-9000HL gas turbine, an SGen5-3000W gas turbine generator, an SST5-5000 steam turbine, an SGen5-1200A steam turbine generator, a heat-recovery steam generator, and the T3000 control system. The company will also provide long-term services for the plant’s core components.
The German-Dutch grid operator TenneT recently commissioned Siemens Energy to supply three grid stabilisation systems for the German power grid.