Versalis, the chemical division of the Italian oil company Eni, confirms that it is in the process of implementing an action plan that will lead to a resumption of operations at the former biorefinery of Mossi Ghisolfi Group in Crescentino, which were acquired in November 2018. New 35 hires are expected by the end of the year.
Versalis confirms that maintenance operations and investments to adapt the Crescentino site to regulatory requirements, to corporate standards for health, safety and the environment and to improve the process and reliability of the plants for which they will be invested, particularly the bioethanol plant and the water treatment system, have already been defined and for the most part engineered, amounting to about 15 million euros.
The works, for which an “Application for non-substantial changes” to the AIA Integrated Environmental Authorisation was submitted to the Province of Vercelli on 8 August, are still in progress. Versalis, after issuing the necessary permits, confirms that the biomass power plant and water treatment plant will be restarted by the end of the year, the first steps in the complete restart of the industrial site.
At the same time, Eni’s chemical company is working to reconstitute the biomass supply chain for the Crescentino plant, focusing on two elements: short range and maximisation of waste biomass. Versalis has assured the Municipality of Crescentino of its willingness to create a biomass control system and to make all relevant information accessible.
The gradual start-up of the plants is necessary because it also allows the gradual restoration of the biomass supply system, for which the areas for their storage have not yet been identified. It also allows to manage and consolidate in an optimal and effective way the operational and safety performances of the plants, considering the long period of inactivity.
In the new industrial plan, investments have already been planned to improve the layout of the plants, including upgrading the biogas produced by the water treatment system, which will allow biomethane to be fed into the national grid, and upgrading the drying of lignin so that it can have a commercial alternative to being used as fuel in the plant.
The organization of an Open Day dedicated to the territory has been planned by the end of the year, as soon as the technical conditions allow, in order to make known the activities of the production site of Crescentino.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 