How to empty the Suviana power plant: the two hypotheses

Bologna, 19 April 2024 – How to empty the power plant after theSuviana explosion which continues to be invaded by water, which has arrived up to floor -7? It is the most pressing question at the moment, also to allow theinvestigation to continue on a double track, together with the collection of testimonies of survivors. To date, the water pumps are stopped: we must first understand where the leak is from which the water from the Suviana reservoir still enters the hydroelectric power plant.

There are two main hypotheses of work identified during this morning’s summit in the Prefecture in which the prefect of Bologna, Attilio Visconti (video)the CEO of Enel Green Power, Salvatore Bernabei, and the mayors of the affected municipalities

Cleaned water inside the basin

The first hypothesis is to have someone intervene hyper specialized machinery which would suck the water from the plant, pass it through “purification” modules constantly monitored by technicians to evaluate its quality and purification and then thrown back directly into the basin (which serves the water network of Bologna and the province), in a continuous and very rapid cycle. There contraindications are: the high costs of this solution and above all the fact that these machines are very difficult to find.

Water stored and transported by tankers

The other possibility, slower and more doableis withdraw withdraw water mixed with oil and hydrocarbons in the power plant with special water pumps: the sucked liquids would then be stored in tankers and transported by road, with a higher traffic (and environmental) impact. A not exactly optimal solution given that the summer season is upon us and the tourist flow in the area will increase. The objective would be to guarantee the completion of the works by the end of Julyprecisely to allow tourists to return to the lake safely.

Where does the water come in from

There are two sources of water entry into the submerged power plant. The first is one springwhich also existed before but was controlled by water pumps put out of action by the accident on Tuesday 9th. The second is a bulkhead that did not close completely, at the height of group 2 (the one where the testing was taking place), thus letting in some lake water. One of the first actions that will be taken when the intervention begins – explained the prefect of Bologna Attilio Visconti – will be to go to close the bulkhead. According to what we understand, the firefighters should take care of the operation.

Times

“The path is clear – concludes Prefect Visconti – in the next few weeks we will make our choice and I will enter discrete times we will have finally emptied the plant.”