Power Plant T, Italy 2022
Side note: this site is publicly known in European exploring circles which means to avoid any controversies regarding accurate naming and code naming I've decided to take the commonly applied European naming style for this one.
It pains me to do so as I enjoy delving into historical and technical aspects of location to provide the forum with grammatical failures which very few will entirely read through.
Ironically, the name "T" refers to the location.
Eu exploring is a strange place.
It pains me to do so as I enjoy delving into historical and technical aspects of location to provide the forum with grammatical failures which very few will entirely read through.
Ironically, the name "T" refers to the location.
Eu exploring is a strange place.
History
Again, trying to translate from foreign pages has lead to some discrepancies
From what I can understand this station is one of many in the succession of now three separate stations standing today on the same land.
This one forming of two steam turbines fed by the coal, its' sister and then later successor being that of three thermoelectric gas turbines and the newest successor consisting of another two gas turbines with all plants having a majority of their equipment either manufactured of upgraded by the engineering firm of Ansaldo.
The plant is one of many in the Milan region which has a history for bosting one of the most powerful hydro electric stations with this only adding to the regions' output.
The plant would enter operation in 1928 and slowly grow to become the "Great Thermoelectric Power Station" in its' later years with its' coal supply being reliant on the passing railway line that delivered coal from throughout Italy in the south and east. Inside it housed two 35MW generating units which would soon be dismantled and replaced throughout 1960 to 1964 where the plant would see installation of two Ansaldo generating sets coupled to their own respective Franco Tosi-Sulzer boiler units.
(The boiler units are more than likely the original 1928 installation).
Externally the station has an impressive façade with the roof shape seen inside is hidden below the external details and looks to be an entirely different building from both perspectives.
Following suit in the latter half of the 1960's and into 1970s after the establishment of ENEL (Essentially the Italian equivalent of the CEGB and later National Grid) the plant would be adjoined by a thermoelectric gas turbine station with the first unit installed in 1967 and the final two in 1970 capable of a combined 900mw.
Throughout 1990 into 1993 the Italian industrial ministry collaborated with ENEL to adapt the stations for greater power efficiency seeing each steam unit within both the coal and gas stations partnered with a 125mw gas turbine.
The coal station would begin to wind down in 2003 with unit 1 (Coal) and Unit 2 (Gas) falling out of service reducing capacity and staffing numbers dropping into the later decade. By 2013 the coal plant reached the end of its operating life and became no longer capable of supplying the electricity service along with the 1967/1970 Gas Turbine station.
This was all then displaced by the successive Combined Cycle Gas Turbine station of 2008, which was adjoined by an additional station in late 2022.
The Visit
Arriving late into the early morning there was little we could do to prepare for this explore and went at it relying an old tip that dated back to 2018. Thankfully, in usual Italian style, most inhabitants that could potentially oversee the site turned a blind eye to our presence with the only security presence being the hardened razor wire fence.
Once past the fence and along the wall of the station trying to find a way in became a little bit more technical and resulted in having to think more three dimensionally. Eventually, the most unlikely solution for a site like this was the one that yielded results and before I knew it we were standing between the turbines.
Instantly you could see the plant has stood vacant for some time with enough to allow the pigeons to cycle through a few generations but not so long that the building was crumbling in on itself. It is an impressive mix of maturing machinery and post-modern installations.
Once we had cleared the building for any potential issues the bags were unpacked and tripods erected.
Starting off with the Admin areas.
This whole section seemed completely different to that of the machinery sections, with a medical style design and rooms stacked to the brim with documents and testing equipment.
The staircase was also a notable mention. Again, almost completely sterile in its' atmosphere.
The Boilers
Again, it's easy to make distinguishments between this plant and larger station elsewhere in this section alone. Everything here felt far more compact than boiler houses of other plants.
The Control Room
Now, there are in fact two control rooms here. For some reason we walked past the second room approximately 17 times.
For photos of the other control room that evaded me see the linked report:
www.28dayslater.co.uk
Internally it is very much in line with other European power plants as well as the location. Sandwiched between the turbines and the boilers with the deaerator bay above, the low ceiling somehow makes the room feel wider than it is.
The panels are cladded in wood with other areas in a metal with a wooden sort of veneer.
The Turbine Hall.
There isn't too much to say here, just look at it.
The turbines are laid out latitudinally in a familiar fashion.
At the same level of these units their scale is rather impressive.
Anyway, that'll be all.
KP_
This whole section seemed completely different to that of the machinery sections, with a medical style design and rooms stacked to the brim with documents and testing equipment.
The staircase was also a notable mention. Again, almost completely sterile in its' atmosphere.
The Boilers
Again, it's easy to make distinguishments between this plant and larger station elsewhere in this section alone. Everything here felt far more compact than boiler houses of other plants.
Deaerator Bay
This area formed the section where gasses are removed from the feed water of the system as a means to reduce corrosive damage to metals. Usually these are massive open areas as their own block between the boilers and turbines.
The Control Room
Now, there are in fact two control rooms here. For some reason we walked past the second room approximately 17 times.
For photos of the other control room that evaded me see the linked report:
Powerplant T - Italy (March 2019) | European and International Sites
It's been a long time since I actually posted a report, certainly not through lack of activity, just laziness. So i thought I'd start contributing a bit more than the great report, nice photo's comments again. Got a large backlog to wade through but this is a recent one from a trip to Italy with...
www.28dayslater.co.uk
Internally it is very much in line with other European power plants as well as the location. Sandwiched between the turbines and the boilers with the deaerator bay above, the low ceiling somehow makes the room feel wider than it is.
The panels are cladded in wood with other areas in a metal with a wooden sort of veneer.
The Turbine Hall.
There isn't too much to say here, just look at it.
The turbines are laid out latitudinally in a familiar fashion.
At the same level of these units their scale is rather impressive.
Anyway, that'll be all.
KP_
