Expansion of thermoelectric generating capacity in Italy under ECA sponsorship
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Expansion of Thermoelectric Generating Capacity in Italy Under ECA Sponsorship FREMONT FELIX MEMBER AIEE I T IS THE purpose of this article to outline briefly the unusually interesting and concentrated expansion of one country's electric gen- erating capacity as made possible by the joint efforts of the planning and building resources of the country itself and by the extremely efficient use of the funds and serv- ices made available under the Marshall Plan. In his capacity of representative of one of the American manufacturers who are supplying a large part of the generating equipment the author has been closely, and practically continuously, associated with this activity in Italy since its very inception. It is only fair to state that he has been deeply impressed, both by the farseeing con- ception of the program and by the admirable manner in which it is being carried out by the expertly directed Italian utilities as well as the Italian Government bodies and by the Marshall Plan administrators. PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF PROGRAM I TALY ALWAYS HAS had a predominance of hydroelectric power. In consequence, the poor hydrologic condi- tions of 1949 to 1950, in combination with the shortage due to the devastation and failure to expand caused by the war (strikingly evident in Figure 1), led to a con- siderable shortage in the availability of electric energy. Marshall Plan aid to Italy is helping that country to overcome an acute shortage of electric energy and to speed its recovery. Steam plants are bein# constructed to supple- ment the predominant hydroelectric facilities to avoid future shortages due to poor hydro- logical conditions. COMPARISON OF TOTAL ELECTRICAL ENERGY GENERATED IN ITALY 8 IN U.S.A. 600 500 ω 400 O |o 300 >^ ^S 250 < 200 150 100 <0> ^ >7 \ Λ ** -* '/ 1-V A x s $/ «*$· Φ' * * This spurred the allocation of Marshall Plan funds towards the restoring of a more equit- able percentage in steam capacity, at the same time as the acute over-all deficiency of energy was being remedied by the promptest possible means. Thus, through the provision of the necessary electric power, a big step is being taken toward the Economic Cooperation Adminis- tration (EGA) objective of assisting Italy in every way possible to carry out its broad program of activities and to fulfill its important role in the recovery of Europe. The ECA program also is intended to help boost the electric energy availability in the less developed parts of Italy, especially the southern and the insular portion, as brought out in Tables I and II, which together with Figure 2 show the full geographic and economic scope of the program in its application to the four major areas of widely different economic (and kilowatt-hour) status. STEAM AND ELECTRIC CONDITIONS T HERE HAS BEEN a very fortunate and helpful meeting of minds, between the various utilities concerned, toward standardization, so that most of the turbine- alternators are being built, or considered, for 850 pounds per square inch gauge, 900 degrees Fahrenheit turbine temperature, except that 1,450 pounds per square inch gauge, 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit turbine temperature, and 1,000 de- grees reheat is selected where nat- ural gas will make possible the use of these power plants as base stations, with a very high load factor. Most of the alternators are being supplied for 13,800 volts, 50 cycles. The extent of the standardiza- tion achieved can be judged by 60 50 40 30 £ z * o 25 5 5 20 -I < 1930 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 YEARS 50 52 10 Figure 1. Comparison of total electric energy generated in Italy and the United States Fremont Felix is representative for Italy of the Inter- national General Electric Company, New York, N. Y. Among the Economic Cooperation Administration personnel who have assisted in the planning and ex- ecution of the Italian Power Program are: Walker Cisler, Chief Power Consultant, Washington, D. C ; George H. Knutson, Projects Branch Chief, Wash- ington, D. C ; Everett Eslick, Chief of the Electric Power Branch, Washington, D. C ; the late C. W. DeForest, Chief of the Electric Power Section, Paris, France; R. E. Fisher, former Power Adviser for the ECA Rome Mission; W. S. Shepard, present Power Adviser for the ECA Rome Mission; George Sutherland, Chief of the Electric Power Section, Paris, France; and S. F. Neville, Deputy Chief of the OSR Electric Power Section. 262 Felix—Expansion of Thermoelectric Generating Capacity in Italy ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
Transcript of Expansion of thermoelectric generating capacity in Italy under ECA sponsorship
Expansion of Thermoelectric Generating Capacity in Italy Under ECA Sponsorship
F R E M O N T F E L I X MEMBER AIEE
IT IS THE purpose of this article to outline briefly the unusually interesting
and concentrated expansion of one country's electric generating capacity as made possible by the joint efforts of the planning and building resources of the country itself and by the extremely efficient use of the funds and services made available under the Marshall Plan.
In his capacity of representative of one of the American manufacturers who are supplying a large part of the generating equipment the author has been closely, and practically continuously, associated with this activity in Italy since its very inception. It is only fair to state that he has been deeply impressed, both by the farseeing conception of the program and by the admirable manner in which it is being carried out by the expertly directed Italian utilities as well as the Italian Government bodies and by the Marshall Plan administrators.
PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF PROGRAM
ITALY ALWAYS HAS had a predominance of hydroelectric power. In consequence, the poor hydrologic condi
tions of 1949 to 1950, in combination with the shortage due to the devastation and failure to expand caused by the war (strikingly evident in Figure 1), led to a considerable shortage in the availability of electric energy.
Marshall Plan aid to Italy is helping that country to overcome an acute shortage of electric energy and to speed its recovery. Steam plants are bein# constructed to supplement the predominant hydroelectric facilities to avoid future shortages due to poor hydro-
logical conditions.
COMPARISON OF TOTAL ELECTRICAL ENERGY GENERATED IN ITALY 8 IN U.S.A.
600
500
ω 400
O
| o 300
>^ ^ S 250
< 200
150
100
<0> ^
>7
\
Λ ** -* ' /
1-V
A
xs $/
«*$· Φ'
* *
This spurred the allocation of Marshall Plan funds towards the restoring of a more equitable percentage in steam capacity, at the same time as the acute over-all deficiency of energy was being remedied by the promptest possible means. Thus, through the
provision of the necessary electric power, a big step is being taken toward the Economic Cooperation Administration (EGA) objective of assisting Italy in every way possible to carry out its broad program of activities and to fulfill its important role in the recovery of Europe.
The ECA program also is intended to help boost the electric energy availability in the less developed parts of Italy, especially the southern and the insular portion, as brought out in Tables I and II, which together with Figure 2 show the full geographic and economic scope of the program in its application to the four major areas of widely different economic (and kilowatt-hour) status.
STEAM AND ELECTRIC CONDITIONS
THERE HAS BEEN a very fortunate and helpful meeting of minds, between the various utilities concerned,
toward standardization, so that most of the turbine-alternators are being built, or considered, for 850 pounds per square inch gauge, 900 degrees Fahrenheit turbine temperature, except that 1,450 pounds per square inch
gauge, 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit turbine temperature, and 1,000 degrees reheat is selected where natural gas will make possible the use of these power plants as base stations, with a very high load factor.
Most of the alternators are being supplied for 13,800 volts, 50 cycles.
The extent of the standardization achieved can be judged by
6 0
50
40
30 £ z * o
25 5 5
20 - I <
1930 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 YEARS
50 52 10
Figure 1. Comparison of total electric energy generated in Italy and the United States
Fremont Felix is representative for Italy of the International General Electric Company, New York, N. Y. Among the Economic Cooperation Administration personnel who have assisted in the planning and execution of the Italian Power Program are: Walker Cisler, Chief Power Consultant, Washington, D. C ; George H. Knutson, Projects Branch Chief, Washington, D. C ; Everett Eslick, Chief of the Electric Power Branch, Washington, D. C ; the late C. W. DeForest, Chief of the Electric Power Section, Paris, France; R. E. Fisher, former Power Adviser for the ECA Rome Mission; W. S. Shepard, present Power Adviser for the ECA Rome Mission; George Sutherland, Chief of the Electric Power Section, Paris, France; and S. F. Neville, Deputy Chief of the OSR Electric Power Section.
262 Felix—Expansion of Thermoelectric Generating Capacity in Italy ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
MONCALIERI
the fact that 11 out of the 12 turbine-alternators of American manufacture represented in this program are of only four types, which presents obvious advantages from the standpoint of maintenance, spare parts, and so forth.
Of the three sources of fuel which the power plants in Table II will utilize, the most interesting from the standpoint of the utilization of the natural resources is natural gas, about 95 per cent pure methane, with a calorific content of 1,000 Btu per cubic foot. This is being developed rapidly in increasing amounts in Lombardy, in the Po Valley, and its utilization will probably be extended to the entire peninsula.
The other important source of fuel will be the Sardinian coal from the Sulcis biasin, the production of which is also being intensified with Marshall Plan assistance.
Finally, provision also will be made to burn imported liquid fuel, and many of the boilers under erection are being equipped to handle either of two or three of the fuels, according to future conditions.
PARTICIPATION OF AMERICAN FIRMS
As MADE POSSIBLE by Marshall Plan financing, a very complete cross section of American firms is par
ticipating both in the consulting engineering phase and in the supply of major pieces of equipment, thus resulting in making of these new power plants excellent "show cases" of United States power plant technique.
Table I. New Power Plants Constructed in Italy with ECA Aid
lPIACENZA[C·"
ICHIVASSOl^ 1 ^ T O R I N O
Figure 2. Map of Italy indicating the location of
the new power plants
ECA Financing
Year
1948 to 1949... 1948 to 1949, , , 1948 to 1949... 1948 to 1949...
Total 1948
1949 to 1950, 1949 to 1950... 1949 to 1950... 1949 to 1950... 1949 to 1950 1949 to 1950... 1949 to 1950...
Utility
. . .Soc. Meridionale di Elettricita..
. . .Soc. Termoelettrica Siciliana.... to 1949
. . . Soc. Meridionale di Elettricita..
. . . Soc. Termoelettrica Tirrena . Total 1949 to 1950
1950 to 1951. 1950 to 1951.. . 1950 to 1951.. .
Total 1950
. . . Soc. Termoelettrica Italiana... .
. . . Soc. Termoelettrica Italiana... . to 1951
Grand Total
Power Plant
. . . Palermo 1 °
. . . Palermo 2°
. . Piacenza 1°
. . Piacenza 2° ..Chivasso 1°
. . . Capuano 2° (Napoli) . . Civitavecchia 1 ° (Roma)...
. . . Tavazzano 1 ° (Milano).... . . Tavazzano 2° (Milano)....
Rated Kilowatts
. . . . 60,000. . . . 30,000> . . 30,000) . . 30,000
150,000.. . .
. . . . 60,000. . . . . . . 60,000) . . . 60,000) *'
. . . . 60,000. . . .
. . . . 60,000. . . . 60,000
. . . . 60,000. . . . 420,000
. . . . 30,000. . . . , 60,000>
, , 60,000 ] " ...150,000
720,000.. . .
ECA Grant, Dollars
6,000,000 . . 3,432,000 . . 6,300,000
..15,732,000
., 6,169,000
. . 9,323,000 6,215,000 6,558,000
. . 6,143,000
. . 6,110,000
..40,518,000
.. 3,517,000
. . 3,000,000*
. . 6,517,000
..62,767,000
* The turboalternators and their auxiliaries for this power plant were obtained in Europe without ECA financing.
Table II. Regional Breakdown of Power Generation in Italy
Region
Central Southern...
Total..
Population
..20,200,000.. ..10,100,000.. ..10,000,000.. . . 5,700,000.. ..46,000,000..
Kilowatt-Hours, 1950
..18,678,820,000.
. . 3,162,630,000.
. . 2,517,460,000.
. . 354,820,000.
..24,713,730,000
Kilowatt-Hours per
Capita
. . . . 9 2 0 . . . .
. . . . 3 1 0 . . . .
. . . . 2 5 2 . . . .
. . . . 6 2 . . . . . . . 535* . . .
Present Total
Kilowatts
.4,731,076..
. 737,314...
. 704,738...
. 129,844...
.6,302,972,.
Present Steam
Kilowatts
. . 626,523.. . . 345,370.. . . 85,935.. . . 127,410.. . .1,185,238..
Added Steam
Kilowatts
. . .510,000.. . . 60,000.. . . 90,000.. . . 60,000.. ..720,000..
Per Cent Steam
Addition of Total
. . .10 .8 . . . 8.15 . .12.6 .-46.8
, 11.4
♦ I n 1938 these kilowatt-hours per capita were 335.
At the time of writing, construction is proceeding actively on all power plants and, benefiting from pre-Korea delivery schedules, although this program is less
than 2 years old, major pieces of equipment already have arrived on site.
It is expected that, barring adverse developments, operation will be initiated on all power plants before the end of 1952.
PARTICIPATION OF ITALIAN MANUFACTURING
THE ITALIAN participation in the way of civil construction, trans
formers, and so forth, is approximately of the same order as the equivalent American contribution; thus the Marshall Plan assistance may be considered to have an amplification factor of 2 to 1.
The high degree of expertness which characterizes the Italian utilities will combine with the possibilities provided by the use of the most modern American equipment into the realization of a group of power plants which will set new standards of technical efficiency and achievement. At the same time, they will provide a most potent factor towards the rapid progress of Italian economy which has proved so strikingly the excellent use it can make of electric power in every phase of its activity.
MARCH 1952 Felix—Expansion of Thermoelectric Generating Capacity in Italy 263
