Italy's largest coal-fired plant Enel's Federico II has secured a 90-day extension to operations after the facility was seized on September 28 as part of an investigation into the disposal of fly ash, a source close to the matter said Wednesday.
Italy's Guardia di Finanza, which is prosecuting the case, had allowed the plant to continue to operate for an initial 60-day period which expired Wednesday.
During that time, Enel was obliged to comply with the measures on fly ash disposal imposed by local authorities.
The investigation, carried out by the District Prosecutor's Office in Lecce, concerns the alleged selling of ash to Italian company Cementir for the production of cement.
As of 11:00 am GMT Wednesday, data from Platts cFlow vessel tracking software showed four Panamax vessels and one Supramax carrying coal with an estimated arrival time at Brindisi between December 1-4.
According to Platts calculations, the four-unit 2,640 MW plant in Cerano, near Brindisi would burn around 7 million mt/year of 6,000 kcal/kg NAR thermal coal if operating at 38% efficiency and 80% overall availability.
The District Prosecutor's Office in Lecce declined to comment when contacted by Platts.
