Plenitude has announced its 6MW Ravenna Ponticelle solar plant in Italy is now operational.
The scheme covers an industrial area of 11 hectares and comprises over 10,000 state-of-the-art monocrystalline silicon PV panels. These bifacial modules, which use both sides for energy production, are mounted on special solar tracking structures anchored by ballasts placed on top of an impermeable capping.
This is in line with the permanent safety measures set out in the Industrial Area Operational Remediation Plan.
The new solar scheme is part of the industrial regeneration initiative covering 26 hectares of decommissioned industrial land, now fully reclaimed and owned by Eni Rewind.
After environmental remediation, the same area will house a platform for land bio-reclamation and – in collaboration with Herambiente – a multifunctional waste pre-treatment platform.
The PV plant, which will be connected to the grid in the coming weeks, is already equipped with an energy storage system which will use a new generation of batteries (flow battery), on which Eni’s research and development unit will test innovative solutions.
Once fully operational, the solar farm is expected to produce enough energy to power over 3000 households.
“With the Ravenna Ponticelle photovoltaic plant, Plenitude continues growing its renewable energy footprint in Italy, in line with Eni’s commitment to fully realise the potential of its industrial sites and seize any opportunities offered by technological innovation,” said Plenitude’s head of renewables Alessandro Della Zoppa.