A2A does not take a step back and indeed relaunches the biomethane plant, which has been at the center of controversy and protests from citizens and local administrators for months. “A2A – specifies the company in a press note –, through its subsidiary Agripower, today filed the supplementary documentation relating to the project for the construction of a plant for the production of biomethane in Cremona from agricultural and agro-industrial matrices. “The requests for clarifications and additions expressed by the Services Conference and received from stakeholders – including the Province of Cremona and other bodies and agencies involved – were examined and implemented with extreme attention by the Company”.
In particular, the company continues, “aTaking into account the landscape and environmental needs of the Local Park of supra-municipal interest of the Po and Morbasco, A2A has envisaged the extension of the wooded area to a total area of over 1.5 hectares: the most important mitigation and compensation measure for this type of plants in the area”.
A2A also specifies that “Solutions have been envisaged to limit the flow of vehicles for transporting the incoming matrices, thanks to the construction of a wastewater pipeline that will connect some agricultural companies to the plant with two underground pipes. In this way, the passage of vehicles through the municipalities of Gerre de Caprioli, Bonemerse and Stagno Lombardo will be significantly reduced and the daily transit entering the plant will be limited on average to just 5 vehicles/day, with a reduction of 70% compared to as originally planned. Finally, the quantity of material entering the plant was reduced by 25%”.
In short, the company tries to reassure the many against the plant, as demonstrated by the following passage, which highlights that “Inserted as part of the Cremona 20-30 project, the project involves the injection into the network of approximately 3,900,000 cubic meters of biomethane per year, recovering plant biomass, livestock waste and by-products of agro-industrial origin according to the principles of the circular economy and in accordance with the sustainability dictates envisaged by the “RED II” Directive. The biomethane generated will be injected into the gas distribution network and will be able to satisfy the annual needs of over 3 thousand families. The plant will also be equipped with photovoltaic panels installed on the roofs and capable of producing a further 300 MWh of renewable energy which will be used to meet its energy needs. The infrastructure will be completely self-sufficient thanks to the self-production of electrical and thermal energy, therefore without resorting to the use of fossil fuels”.
The measures envisaged, the company says, “they will allow a reduction in CO2 emissions of approximately 8,000 tons per year compared to current emissions in the area (the wastewater is currently distributed on the land without any treatment). The plant will also produce a significant portion of digestate which, again in accordance with the principles of circular economy, can be used on agricultural soil as a fertilizer, returning nutrients as well as organic material and thus avoiding the use of synthetic chemical products deriving from fossil source”.
Faced with the new step forward by A2A, the mayor of Gerre, Michel Marchi, always on the front line against the plant, he takes time and observes: “We will carefully read and study the supplementary documents filed, as always done. However, the indications made so far go in the same direction as in the past, words and promises of dubious ability to implement”.
“Instead, it makes you think – highlights Marchi however – the hasty need to issue a press release before the discussion in the Services Conference opens, highlighting a clear political unease, the result of the widespread feeling of opposition to this facility on the part of the citizens of Cremona, Gerre and Bonemerse. A month of hard work awaits us, we will need the support of the many citizens who have shown their support so far”.
Also close by was the declaration of Luigi Liparapresident of the BiometaNO committee, who comments: “We learn from the press that A2A has filed the supplementary documentation. We are waiting to have access to the official documents to verify their contents together with our technical consultants because it is not possible to make any assessment on the basis of a press release”.
