CEO, Enel Green Power (Head of Enel Green Power and Thermal Generation), Enel Green Power S.p.A.
Strage di Suviana, parla l'AD di Enel GP Salvatore Bernabei - ReStart 12/04/2024
... dell'amministratore di Enel green power, Salvatore Bernabei, impegnato in prima persona nelle ricerche dell'ultimo disperso.
About Salvatore Bernabei
Salvatore Bernabei stated that Enel Green Power was testing a new energy storage system for the first time in Italy at the Santa Barbara combined-cycle plant, which he described as the first time the system had been deployed at such a scale. He said the startup behind the technology was identified through the company's open innovation efforts and that the industrial environment was subjecting the technology to a "real stress test" that had proven successful. Bernabei explained that the system allows the existing plant to operate more flexibly, which he said supports greater integration of renewables. Bernabei characterized the technology as a long-duration storage system that can provide many hours of operation, enabling energy shifting by absorbing solar power during the day and releasing it when needed. He stated that such systems will complement short-duration storage to provide flexibility and adequacy to the grid, and that in the future the technology could also supply high- and medium-temperature heat to industrial users, helping to decarbonize heat demand and reduce reliance on gas.
Transcript (16 segments)
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Vincenzo Garzillo0:00
The CEO of Enel Green Power, engineer Salvatore Bernabei. Good morning. A moment, the floor to Bernabei. Good morning. Here, Annalisa. CEO Bernabei is here with us, they let us into the plant, you went down and just came back up.
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Salvatore Bernabei0:15
Came back up. Yes, just came back up. I was down with the divers.
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Vincenzo Garzillo0:18
Excuse me, to complete the search for the fourth missing person, you have found him? It has been found. These are very particular moments, because the last missing person that we are trying to recover, and obviously we imagine that the operations are not...
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Salvatore Bernabei0:38
No, they are not simple at all, but we have the maximum professionalism. There are colleagues who have been here for three days without sleeping, giving support to the divers to also direct where to go through the tunnels, all the various access routes, even to the more hidden places of the plant. Considering that there are debris, collapsed floors, pieces of machinery that exploded, so it is very complicated, but I am confident that today we could have good news also on the fourth missing person. I believe we will make it.
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Vincenzo Garzillo1:13
I believe we will make it. I am Vincenzo Garzillo, engineer. Thank you for connecting with us. These are not easy moments. I know you have been at the plant since Tuesday, since the tragedy happened. I don't know if you have any more elements, if you want to tell us a bit if there are any more precise ideas, beyond the great condolences, of course we also join those of the families. But have you managed to understand a bit more the dynamics of this dramatic incident?
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Salvatore Bernabei1:44
Incident? No, I'm sorry, but on this topic there are no news, and honestly all our energies now we are putting into finding the missing and being close to the families, since the families are also here at the plant. The last victim, the last missing person, we now believe that he is evidently deceased, given the time that has passed, given the flooded area. Now, precisely, I would like to go and give a word of comfort to the families who are in the tent.
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Vincenzo Garzillo2:10
Waiting for news. Thank you. One last question: did you know some of them well? There was one of the missing who was found, you knew him, right? That is, he was...
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Salvatore Bernabei2:24
A employee. Yes, yes, one of the people was a colleague, Adriano Scandellari, a person who had also received the Star of Merit from President Mattarella, a very good person, besides being one of the greatest specialists we had. He made himself available to the families, he said it from the beginning.
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Vincenzo Garzillo2:47
What is the state of mind and what will you do for them?
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Salvatore Bernabei2:52
For them, yes, what I want to say is that in these tragedies, the human part is the most important and also the most difficult to manage. So we immediately defined to contact and put ourselves at the service and support of all the families of all the missing, all the injured, whether they were from our company Enel Green Power or from other companies. So we have made available psychological support, logistical assistance, which means bringing people here, booking hotels, and also giving concrete help, even economic, because some of these people, due to the procedures that are triggered, may have had their bank account blocked, they are people who are not working, so we are doing everything possible. We have also set up a fund of 2 million euros precisely for this first emergency to manage all these operations. In all the hospitals in Parma, in Cesena, there are our people who are together with psychologists.
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Vincenzo Garzillo3:47
Supporting the families. Engineer, I know it's a moment, I ask you, I thank you for your time, but I have to ask you a question. No, it has been denounced for a long time by the unions that there were internal safety problems at the plant. I wanted a definitive word from you.
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Salvatore Bernabei4:03
You. Listen, in this moment of pain, the thing that is truly difficult for me to understand, especially as a person and leader of a company that works in an attentive and scrupulous manner, is to see this attempt at vulture-like behavior on this tragedy. In 2022, which is the year in which the union Will says that safety alarms were launched, in that same year we held a coordination meeting on safety as required by law with the unions, and in that same year, in the minutes made at the end of this meeting, the union representative of Will present said that he appreciated our work and expressed satisfaction. So these statements made at this moment are attempts to exploit this situation for other purposes. I would therefore ask everyone, please, respect for the victims and let us work to complete our search for the missing. So these are useless controversies and are falsehoods that are being spread, which I at this moment, as I have already done, deny because on the contrary we have evidence of a different behavior from the union that...
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Vincenzo Garzillo5:08
The... Ok, we have also said, we have said it, the plant will reopen. Will it reopen according to you soon, or are we talking about something that now...
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Salvatore Bernabei5:16
Talking about something that now... no, the plant cannot reopen soon. The plant cannot reopen soon. It is a very complex situation that...
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Vincenzo Garzillo5:23
It will take a long time. Engineer, I thank you very much for your time, for giving us this word. Hug the families of the victims on our behalf. Thank you really, and nothing else to say. Good luck to everyone, good luck. Thank you. Thank you, engineer, thank you.
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Salvatore Bernabei5:41
Thank you. Goodbye.