A 20-megawatt photovoltaic park will be built in place of the Eni fuel depot in Calenzano (Florence), the site of the explosion that in December 2024 killed five people, injured about thirty, and damaged buildings and sports facilities in the area. The signing of the memorandum of understanding containing the commitments of the energy multinational was made on August 6 by Giuseppe Ricci, Industrial Transformation Director of Eni, and Umberto Carrara, CEO of Eni Industrial Evolution (both signed remotely) and, in person in Florence at the Tuscany Region headquarters, by President Eugenio Giani and the mayor of Calenzano, Giuseppe Carovani. The signing follows the agreement already announced eight months ago, after the controversies following the accident and the institutions’ request to cease fuel-related activities.
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The release of the area by the Prato Prosecutor’s Office last October allowed Eni to empty the tanks that contained 40,000 tons of fuel and to start the characterization plan (which serves to detect pollution of the soil, subsoil, and groundwater) and the securing of the 170,000 square meters, in view of dismantling and remediation. The times for the conversion will be long (at least four years). Eni’s investment is estimated at at least 50 million euros.
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The group commits to cede to the Municipality 5% of the value of the electricity produced by the photovoltaic park for 30 years (the duration of the plant) and to also build an additional small photovoltaic plant of 1 megawatt, with a storage system also of 1 MW, which will be given to the Municipality of Calenzano to power the sports area. Furthermore, the energy group will pay, “as a contribution to the territory,” 6.5 million euros that will be used to restore the sports facilities damaged by the explosion and to build a new Olympic swimming pool and a new sports hall. The Municipality of Calenzano, for its part, plans to purchase from Eni an area currently disused (in via delle Prata) to develop a settlement of productive and artisanal activities.
“This project, which unfortunately arises from a tragedy, is an example of great collaboration between institutions and business – said Ricci and Carrara – and must become a model of industrial reconversion as was also the case with the Eni refinery in Livorno.” President Giani acknowledged that Eni has committed greatly on the safety front and has listened to the needs of the territory: when the fuel depot was established in 1956, there was neither the nearby A1 motorway, the Autostrada del Sole, nor the houses and factories that later arose all around, and the conditions were therefore very different from the current ones. Also satisfied was Mayor Carovani, who emphasized: let us not forget the tragedy.
