Edison continues the development ofhydroelectric with two plants on the Adda river: Pizzighettone (Cremona), on which work started last month, and Maleo (Lodi), recently acquired by the AGS Group (Alto Garda Servizi). The two plants strengthen the company's activities in a sector that has always been strategic, that of hydroelectricity, and complete Edison's production facilities which currently have an installed capacity of 7.300 MW.
The Pizzighettone plant will be completely underground and therefore fully integrated into the surrounding landscape. Edison will develop various works for the benefit of the Adda area and fish fauna at the same time as the plant is being built. Among these, the restoration of the area downstream of the traverse and the so-called "fish scale". The 4,5 MW plant will enter service by 2016 and will produce 17,5 GWh of electricity, equal to the average annual consumption of 5.800 families.
Opposite the Pizzighettone plant is the Maleo plant which, with an installed capacity of 3 MW, produces about 15 GWh per year, covering the average annual consumption of 5.000 families. In operation since 2003, it is fully integrated with the surrounding area thanks to its completely underground structure. Edison took over the Maleo plant on July 20 by acquiring 100% of the shares of SHEN, the asset company which owns the Maleo plant, from the AGS group. The shareholders of AGS are the Municipality of Riva del Garda (56,6%), Dolomiti Energia (20%), local banks and Municipalities of the area for the remaining share (23,4%).
“We have been producing electricity for 130 years and with these new plants we are returning to the origins of our history by focusing on hydroelectricity and, in particular, on the Adda river which saw our first power plants rise on its banks – he says Bruno Lescoeur, CEO of Edison -. With the two plants in Pizzighettone and Maleo, we confirm the centrality that renewable energy has in our strategy and place the resources and specific skills that Edison is able to offer at the service of the local area”.
