18 September 2021

ENEL: redevelopment of Bari power plant gets underway

Bari, September 23, 2021 – The area of the former Enel power plant, located in via Buozzi in Bari, will be made available for new urban uses for the city thanks to the preliminary sales agreement signed between the power company, which owns the site, and COBAR SpA. This achievement was made possible thanks to a competition created by Enel in 2017, as part of the Company’s commitment to identify viable solutions that would give new life to some of the sites, formerly the location of thermoelectric power plants, that can no longer be used for energy production. In compliance with its corporate values, Enel has pursued this initiative in close cooperation with local administrations, following a path of continuous transparency according to social, economic and environmental sustainability guidelines, with the aim of creating value for the local community.

In Bari, Enel has set the goal, shared with all stakeholders in the area, of identifying solutions to redevelop an area that has now gained strategic importance in relation with the growth of the city over time and the main mobility routes that connect the suburbs to the heart of the Apulian capital.

The awarding of the contract to COBAR SpA, a company specialized in the design and construction of buildings, restoration work, maintenance and regenerative preservation, as well as in the design, construction, maintenance and engineering support of high-tech systems, represents a pivotal step in the virtuous path of cooperation between companies, local authorities and the municipal administration. This cooperation has kickstarted the redevelopment of the area in terms of sustainability and modernization of wide spaces. As early as September, once all preliminary measures for the creation of the construction site are completed, demolition works will begin at the Enel power plant in Bari.

COBAR itself will perform the demolition in order to bring the area to the ideal conditions for the realization of new projects. Following the principles of circular economy, some of the structures currently present on the site will be maintained and converted to new uses. During the demolition phase, Enel will take care of all preliminary assessments for the area’s transformation project. The idea is to create a modular project that can integrate urban parks, common spaces, areas devised for exhibitions, recreational activities, sports and residential purposes, along with maintenance and expansion works on the road network, through a more efficient use of adjacent roads that will reduce traffic and create new connections with public transport.

As stated by Mr Luca Solfaroli Camillocci, Enel’s head of Power Generation Italia, “The start of the redevelopment of the former power plant in Bari reinforces Enel’s commitment to making the energy transition an opportunity for developing and generating a shared value. The plant has been a driver for economic development here for more than half a century, though it has reached the end of its life from a power generation standpoint. Today, through collaboration between institutions and companies and thanks to circular economy-based solutions, the site is preparing to change its role and host new activities, by becoming a connecting point between the urban centre and the suburbs.

We deeply believed in the project launched by Enel, we are satisfied with the agreement reached, especially as Apulian citizens, and we can already imagine what it could mean for that part of the city of Bari. This project entails a significant enhancement of that quadrant, which will count on new places for social participation and new services. Our development plan – as stated by Mr. Vito Barozzi, founder and sole manager of Cobar SpA – for the areas of the former Enel power plant envisions a sustainable redevelopment, that is modern and respectful of the available spaces. We will reconnect these areas of the district with everything that surrounds them, helping to permanently bridge the gap between the centre and the suburbs. Citizens will be able to count on new areas of social participation and new services“.

The Bari power plant was built between 1956 and 1958 by the Società Generale Pugliese di Elettricità, which was followed by Enel in 1962, after the nationalization of certain private assets. Originally, it was a oil-fired power plant; in 2008, it was converted to methane-fired plant to and better integrated within a neighborhood that, in the meantime, had grown around the plant with several residential units. The month of August of 2013 saw the start of the decommissioning of the site.

The reconversion of power plant in Bari constitutes part of Enel’s broader program to give a second life to thermoelectric power plants, in line with the energy transition process towards a more sustainable model. This involves upgrading plants that could no longer be used for energy purposes from the standpoint of a circular economy, enhancing areas on which the structures stand and reusing, where possible, materials and parts of the plants themselves, to reduce the consumption of raw materials. When a site shows new developmental potential energy production, it will be converted to other technologies: the power plants can thus become innovative and integrated power centres, where different technologies can coexist in order to facilitate the energy transition. In case of a total or partial lack of potential for energy redevelopment, the integration and redevelopment of the area for non-energy related are encouraged, with new business projects funded by sustainable investments. Such projects can be carried out over  a partial section or the entirety of the plant area, and they have to meet the needs of local communities.

Regardless, all projects must be driven by the criteria of innovation and sustainable development, as well as creating shared value for the communities in the surrounding area.