Bonus Green Certificate Income for Wartsila’s Italian Biofuel Power Generation

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). In a project that combines clean biofuel generated power, ‘green certificate’ incentives, and a one year project delivery cycle, Finland’s Wartsila (DE:881050) will supply a 75-megawatt (MW) biofuel power plant to the southern Italian city of Accera, near Naples. The $77 million contract was awarded by Fri- El Accera, an independent power producer formed through a joint venture between Italy’s Fri-El SpA and Energies Nouvelles of France, the renewable energy arm of French power utility, EDF.

The four Wartsila 18V46 combined cycle generation sets will replace two gas turbines. The new units will run on palm oil, some of which will be from plantations owned by Fri-El. The E+P+C (engineering, procurement, and construction) contract includes the turbine supply to the provision of a fuel unloading area and grid connection systems. An operation and maintenance contract is currently under negotiation. The new units are scheduled to be supplying power to the grid in October of 2007.

It is claimed that the new plant will have near zero CO2 emissions, which will keep it in line with Italy’s target for reducing greenhouse gas emission. A specialist in power generation from renewable sources, Fri-El is looking to benefit from the green incentives produced by the Italian government to meet with the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol.

Under the targets, a power generation plant not primarily based on non-renewable energy has to produce 2.35% of its annual electricity production from renewable resources. If they are unable to comply with this requirement they must then purchase green certificates for every 50-megawatt hours making up the 2.35% of annual output.

ompanies like Fri-El, producing output from renewable sources, will be awarded green certificates at the same megawatt hour rate and will be able to sell certificates to other power plants. The sale is a bonus on top of the sale of the power sold to the national grid.

Marco Golinelli, Wartsila vp of power plants, Italy, said, “Energy from liquid biofuels offers important advantages, enabling the simultaneous generation of electricity and heat with no sulfur emissions and no consumption of fossil fuel resources. As the biofuels are classed a renewable no additional CO2 is emitted and they thus contribute to reducing the greenhouse effect.”

Golinelli said that the approach was one of the best ways of ensuring the economic viability of green energy projects in Italy. Because of the high overall power plant performance that can be reached using medium–speed reciprocating engines, it is becoming increasingly attractive alternative for electricity generation. Wartsila currently has 25 megawatts of liquid biofuel plants in operation in Italy and when the new plant is included the company has another 230 megawatts under construction or on order.

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