Venice inaugurates emission-free hydrogen plant
Officials in the Italian city of Venice have welcomed the start-up of an innovative power plant that is designed to showcase the benefits of advanced hydrogen technologies.
The hydrogen-fuelled combined cycle plant at Fusina is the first industrial-scale facility of its kind and is part of a wider set of projects backed by Italy’s Hydrogen Park consortium.
It will generate around 60 GWh/year and avoid the emission of more than 17,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, says Enel, which built the 16 MW facility.
The Fusina hydrogen plant has a total output of 12 MW and its waste heat is used to generate high temperature steam to produce an additional 4 MW in an adjacent coal-fired power plant. It uses 1.3 tonnes per hour of hydrogen, which is sourced from a nearby petrochemical plant via a 4 km-long pipeline.
Enel and its Hydrogen Park partners have invested €50 million in the plant. The consortium – formed by the Venice Industrial Union in 2003 – seeks to promote the development and application of hydrogen technologies in transport and power generation in the industrial area of Porto Marghera.
Enel initially tested the plant using methane as a fuel in early 2009 before switching to hydrogen in August that year.
