Energy from biomass

Beware of improvisers!

The high performance guaranteed by biomass power stations has created a great deal of interest, attracting to the sector many operators who lack experience and often propose the use of inadequate technology (with regard to engines, in particular). So, choosing the right partner for the designing and building of a power station is of fundamental importance..

Three factors for success

Incentives and tariffs are clearly linked to the amount of electricity produced by a power station. It is therefore essential that the station is designed and built using reliable, tried-and-tested technology that guarantees high efficiency..

There are three fundamental elements that need to be evaluated:

1. energy efficiency/performance (an optimal balance between the amount of energy produced and the fuel consumed);
2. limited running and maintenance costs;;
3. flexibility: the possibility of using different fuels (vegetable and animal oils).

Experience counts!

Termoindustriale leads the way in the biomass power station sector. The company has already designed and built 11 vegetable oil-fired eco.ti® power plants, and a further 10 are being under authorization procedures and/or being built.

The eco.ti® power plants (up to 50 MWe) offer a proven value investment, because Termoindustriale does not limit itself to building the station; it also provides precious assistance, from the handling of authorization procedures through to the direct sourcing of fuel oils at controlled prices.

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Investing in renewables pays dividends

Under the so-called “20-20-20” community directive, EU member states have been set a target of producing 20% of their energy from renewable sources by 2020. Italy, in particular, is considerably behind schedule in achieving its 17% target, so the creation of a vast network of generators throughout the country is required to make up the gap.

The best terms for Italian investors

The tax concessions given to renewable energy in Italy are among the best in Europe. In addition, the recent European Directive 2009/28/EC reduced administrative barriers to the use of energy from renewable sources by shortening the time required to obtain authorisation and simplifying procedures.

The renewable energy sector is therefore one of the few areas of investment which can guarantee an adequate return, whether investors use the energy to meet their own energy requirements or they choose to sell the energy produced to the national grid.

Assessing the investment

The return on investment in a biomass power station is measured on the basis of several fundamental income components:

• the value of the electricity sold to G.S.E. (the grid operator in Italy) under purchase and "resale arrangements";
• the value of the Green Certificates which G.S.E. issues for each plant for the first fifteen years of its operation;
• the so-called "all-inclusive tariff" which can be chosen as an alternative to Green Certificates in the case of plant with outputs of less than 1 MW;
• where the thermal energy produced by the power station can also be exploited or transformed into cooling energy (trigeneration), considerable energy savings come into play, together with the value of the Energy Efficiency Credits (White Certificates) which reward such savings.

eco.ti ®
The new cogeneration power stations supplied by vegetable oil.