After the Americans, the Dutch are interested in projects related to the conversion of the coal mine. The new road of the last carboniferous site in Italy, at Nuraxi Figus in south-western Sardinia, is traced: no longer coal but green energy and research. And a set of projects worth 210 million euros linked to Pnrr and Jtf.
For the moment, the plan that is going forward is that linked to the Aria project, an initiative already advanced that aims to produce rare gases (oxygen 18 and argon 40 and stable isotopes) carried out by the Infn (National Institute of Nuclear Physics) by Carbosulcis, a company controlled by the Region and holder of the mining concession, together with the University of Cagliari.
“After the first event presented by a pool of American entrepreneurs – says Francesco Lippi, CEO of Carbosulcis – there was the event of a group of Dutch entrepreneurs, interested in the cryogenic tower and the research project on isotopes”. In these days, visits and inspections by technicians in the mining appurtenances and in the equipped areas are planned. A real microcosm made up of wells that go up to half a kilometer deep and driveways about thirty kilometers long and equipped with sensors and control systems on the surface. The Aria project, which involves the construction of a cryogenic tower along the vertical of a well that goes up to half a kilometer deep, is not the only one that concerns the future of the mining site. For some time, the company has been carrying out a series of projects to “ensure a future and a new horizon” to the industrial complex in which there are infrastructures “worth hundreds of millions of euros”.
«Just think of the wells and the ramps – adds Lippi – to imagine building such a structure from scratch to be able to install a cryogenic tower is literally impossible. This is a great opportunity and we are trying to exploit it ». In the program of the company controlled by the Region there are other programs. One above all, that for the construction of a regional energy hub which, as the manager points out, would envisage the “surface production from renewable sources of 35 MWp (photovoltaic and wind), a potential underground storage of at least as much power and intelligent management for smart greed, looking at the additional potential on the production of green hydrogen ».
Then there are the other projects that the mining company is still engaged in. That is the research for the production of fertilizers from the processing of residues of mining operations. And the cultivation of spirulina algae using the water that rises from the aquifer. Collaborations are also underway with universities. “The set of programs we intend to carry out – argues the manager – aims to give a new course to the industrial mining site in the name of sustainability”. A revolution that for the moment is waiting for resources. “For the moment all the study, research and design activities continue,” argues the manager. As for the transition from the project to the implementation plan: «Everything is linked to the resources provided by the Just transition fund and the NRP – he concludes -. Our projects, which are worth a total of 210 million euros, are capable of bringing about an epochal turning point in this area ».