Energy company Enel has completed its first carbon capture and storage (CCS) pilot plant at its Federico II power plant in Brindisi in south eastern Italy.

The pilot post-combustion system will capture up to 8000 metric tons of CO₂ per year from the 2640 MW Federico II coal plant, which will be transported to partner eni’s Stogit site in Cortemaggiore where it will be injected and stored underground.

The storage site will be operational by 2012 and initial monitoring of the site is already being carried out.

The pilot project will be used to test out procedures and technologies ahead of Enel’s planned first industrial-scale installation at its new Porto Tolle coal plant in Rovigo.

The proposed plant at Porto Tolle will separate up to 1 million metric tons of CO₂ per year from the exhaust fumes and store it in a saline aquifer under the Adriatic Sea.

Enel has received €100 million in funding from the European Recovery Programme for Energy for the Brindisi pilot project and initial planning of the Porto Tolle scheme.

“The completion of this pilot plant in Brindisi is an important step forward in the development of new technologies upon which the world’s future energy system will be built,” says Enel CEO and general manager Fulvio Conti.

For further information:
www.enel.com/
www.eni.com/

Related stories:
US FutureGen project selects new storage site in Illinois (1-Mar)
UK confirms 14 projects have applied for EU CCS and renewables funding (18-Feb)
Siemens Energy claims ‘breakthrough’ in carbon capture trial (23-Nov 2010)
Finnish companies drop carbon capture and storage project (5-Nov 2010)
Eni and Enel join forces on Italy’s first CCS project (23-Oct 2008)