{{ item.title }}
{{ item.content }}
About
The Edolo Hydroelectric Plant
The Edolo hydroelectric power plant, in Valcamonica, a valley in the province of Brescia, is one of the largest plants of this kind in Italy and Europe. It plays a strategic role in terms of Italy’s high-voltage grid and energy dispatching through its interconnections with other countries. The plant uses water in the existing Lake Avio reservoir, in a cavernous power plant located on the left bank of the Oglio River, immediately downstream from the town of Edolo.
The power plant has eight reversible multistage turbopump units, in which turbines can function as pumps to return to the upper reservoir some of the water that has already passed through the turbines at times of lower power demand, and then reuse it again to produce power when demand is at its highest. The power plant is capable of providing a total output of 1,000 MW, for an average annual energy production of 220 GWh.
Technology
Hydroelectric
Status
In operation
Operational capacity
1,000 MW
Energy production
329 GWh
Average production achieved in the last three representative years.
CO2 emissions avoided
150,830 tons per year
Energy needs met
About 122,000 households per year
{{ item.title }}
{{ item.content }}
Timeline
Milestones
A power plant with a low environmental impact
In order to minimize environmental impact, the Edolo power plant is entirely dug into the heart of the mountain and is reached by means of a tunnel about 700 meters long through which cars can pass. The power plant's rooms are distributed in three underground halls: one for water sorting, one for the engine room which contains the plant's eight turbines (each of which is 22 meters high, weighs 550 tons and rotates at a speed of 600 revolutions per minute), and the last for the transformers that carry the current generated by the turbines to the power-transmission voltage.
Impact on local communities
In terms of installed capacity in Italy, the Edolo power plant is second only to that in Entracque (in the province of Cuneo). Locally, it enjoys iconic status and is visited by more than 5,000 people every year. It is extraordinarily important from the point of view of the release of fresh water into the entire hydraulic network of the Oglio River. This is because the glacial waters of the Avio Valley are discharged in Valcamonica thanks to the Edolo plant. Moreover, the storage of fresh water in our mountain reservoirs guarantees a very important supply for people, agriculture, fishing, livestock and industry in the Po Valley.
In the heart of hydropower generation
In collaboration with the non-profit InExodus Social Cooperative Society, we are opening our Edolo power plant in order to help people see firsthand how water power works. Individual visitors, schools or interested groups all are welcome to discover, through a guided tour, how our hydroelectric plant works.
Full details can be found on the InExodus website.