Enel said that under the agreement, it will conduct a feasibility study for using carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology at a Chinese coal-fired plant, for capturing the CO2 produced and injecting it into an oilfield, thereby increasing crude oil production.
Livio Vido, director of engineering and innovation division at Enel, said: “Today this agreement strengthens the collaboration between Enel and the Chinese institutions, with whom we have been working successfully since 2004. Enel offers a great country like China its cutting-edge technologies, such as that for the capture and storage of carbon dioxide, which will make a substantial contribution to the combat against climate change”.
According to Enel, the Italy-China partnership will promote the exchange of information between the researchers of the two countries.
Enel has also developed a programme, currently under review by the European Union for the disbursement of funding under the European Economic Recovery Plan, to build a full-scale plant that, starting in 2015, will make it possible to capture CO2 generated by the coal-fired power plant to be built in Porto Tolle.
The company added that it will use the experience it has gained in designing and constructing a pilot system that will allow it to test CO2 capture technology at its Federico II Plant in Brindisi starting in 2010.
