Enel is to help China reduce its greenhouse gas emissions through two new agreements covering the power and industrial sectors.
Under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Enel, China’s Ministry of Science and Technology and Italy’s Ministry for the Environment, the Italian utility is to promote clean coal technologies that could have a significant impact on carbon emissions from new coal fired power plants.
Enel has also acquired over 11 million tonnes of CO2 allowances to support projects in the Chinese steel industry.
The MOU paves the way for cooperation in R&D activities covering supercritical coal technology and CO2 capture and storage (CCS) techniques. Enel is currently completing development of the supercritical Torrevaldaliga Nord power plant in Italy, and is also taking part in projects to develop and commercialise CCS technologies.
The accord is part of the Sino-Italian Cooperation Programme, which was launched in 2001 and is designed to promote sustainable development in China.
Enel says that applying the efficiency standards of the Torrevaldaliga Nord power plant, in Civitavecchia, to existing Chinese power plants would increase efficiency by about 50 per cent and reduce per-MWh CO2 emissions by about one-third. Applying the technologies to new power plants would avoid the emission of around one billion tonnes of CO2 per year.
Enel CEO, Fulvio Conti, said: “Today’s agreements strengthen the cooperation between Enel and the institutions and leading companies of China, with whom we have been working successfully since 2004. Enel offers this great country cutting edge technology, such as that for the capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide which will make a crucial contribution to combat against climate change.”
Enel has also signed an agreement with Wuhan Iron & Steel Co to purchase 11.45 million tonnes of CO2 emission allowances supporting five energy efficiency projects. The deal takes Enel’s portfolio of greenhouse gas abatement projects in China to 60 and makes the company the second largest buyer of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) allowances in the world.
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