District name North Modena
Country Italy
Region Region Emilia - Romagna
Municipalities involved in the BD The Modena Nord BioEnergy District is designed to serve the townships of Camposanto, Cavezzo, Concordia sulla Secchia, Finale Emilia, Medolla, Mirandola, San Felice sul Panaro, San Possidonio and San Prospero. It covers 461.44 km2, and has a population 83,448 inhabitants.
Production chain (feedstock-conversion-energy product)
The BD foresees the use of biomasses coming from dedicated crops (sorghum) and from woody and crop residues (pear-tree and wheat straw in particular). The conversion processi s combustion for power and eventually heat production.
Factors that stimulated the BD creation and analysis
The crisis of the sugar beet sector (due to the CMO Sugar Reform – Regulation (CE) n. 318/2006 of the Council; Regulation (CE) n. 320/2006 of the Council).
Need to find out alternatives to the sugar beet crop.
Increased attention of administration towards renewable sources.
Beginning of operations The industrial project is subjected to authorisation depending on national law (art. 12 Decree
387/2003.
The authorisation will be released on the basis of a procedure where all the administrations are engaged.
03/07/2008: the Certificate of RES-based Plant (IAFR) was issued (G.S.E. dated on 3/7/2008 prot. n. GSE/P28580522107).
Type of conversion plant(s)
A power plant with a nominal generation capacity of 12.5 MWe (30 MWt) fired by fuel from locally grown plant biomass to supply electricity to be fed into the national power grid and eventually heat (under study).
Type(s) of biomass feedstock
The needed total amount is 74,002 MT dm; 80% from Sorghum (59,202 MTdm) and 20% from field and woody crop residues (14,800 MT dm).
They depend on the incentives to energy from biomasses, which are not defined yet. Indicatively, they amount to 45 €/t.
Biomass origin(s) District area.
Yearly working hours (h/year) 7.800 h/years. Total energy production 84.430 MMh/year
Energy distribution
Power distribution into the national power grid. Heat use under evaluation.
Types and amounts of biofuels used to feed the plant
The District can produce an estimated 129,000 MT dry matter, or 30% of provincial potential. More than 50% of this figure can be grown within a 15-km range.
Total surface area for biomass feedstock production
The company is currently engaged in exploratory talks to negotiate crop contracts for about 3,000 hectares of sorghum, or about 40.7% of the District’s available field-crop acreage of 7,376 ha, in a four- year rotation.
Company structure (organization)
The energy company is to be owned and operated by the Italia Zuccheri SpA Sugar Mill and is part of the conversion plan for the sugar-beet industry as per the provisions of Regulation (EC) 320/2006. The sugar mill, which has been closed, is located in the town of Finale Emilia and the conversion, as set forth by the provisions of Italian Legislation 81/2006, will include the mill and the nearly 15,000 hectares once under sugar-beet, the fields of which are located in the 9 towns involved in the planned THE MODENA NORD BIOENERGY DISTRICT whose local economies were hit hardest by the closing of the mill.
The industrial project is realized in cooperation with the company EcoSpark SPA, leader of the energy sector.
Local communities involvement
Italia Zuccheri has signed a crop-conversion agreement with the authorities of Emilia-Romagna Region, Modena Province, Finale Emilia Municipality, industry trade unions and farm producer organisations. It has almost concluded all steps in the authorisation process and has already been granted the IAFR permit for power plants running on renewable resources, as set forth in the provisions of paragraph 4, section 3, of national legislative act 24-10-2005, and all other necessary authorisations.
Investment costs
€4.3 million/MW, inclusive of all bio-energy production equipment.
Types and amounts of human resources
Plant employees: 15.
The staff previously working in the sugar industry would be maintained and increased. Logistic operators previously working in the sugar sector would be employed in the energy sector, managing the biomass from the field up to the processing step.
Subsidies and or incentives (local, National, etc)
National green certificates; fundings for plant conversion (sugar-beet reform).
The fiscal Decree annexed to the Financial Law 2008 foresees a multiplying coefficient K=1.8 for short biomass supply chain feeding RES-based Plants (IAFR).
This value has to be deliberated by a Ministry Decree, which is still under approval.
Emissions balance (CO2, NOx, etc.) Estimated CO2 emission: 37 kt/year
Brief analysis of operational difficulties
The authorization procedure is long and complex; need to validate the performances of the selected energy crop; complexity related to the definition of growing contracts due to the lack of knowledge about the incentive levels the plant could benefit of.
Summary of strengths and weaknesses Strengths
- Availability of financial resources proceeding from the sugar beet reform; - Presence of interested and experienced stakeholders;
- Relevant territorial agricultural potential;
- Strong commitment in verifying the production potential of the selected energy crops; - Good concentration of agricultural woody residues;
- Bio-energy project considered as interesting by the local administrations.
Weaknesses
- Uncertainty of the incentives levels addressed to the supply chain; - Difficulty to determine contracts with less stimulated farmers; - Strong request for a better remuneration of the agricultural sector;
- Quite limited knowledge of issues concerning the energy conversion of Sorghum.
Brief analysis of compatibility with the "Renewed" methodology
RENEWED methodology has been applied and found appropriate to the analysis. The application of the methodology was evaluated as interesting by the stakeholders, in particular the agricultural sector and the local administrations.