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At least three people were killed on Tuesday after a fire and
explosion occurred underground at the hydroelectric power plant
owned by Enel Green Power, part of Enel Group, in Bargi, about
80 km (50 miles) from Bologna.
"The rescuers' hope is always to find people alive. The scenario
we see does not make us believe much in these hypotheses, but I
repeat that we are also accustomed to miracles," fire brigade's
spokesperson, Luca Cari said on Wednesday.
Cari said that the situation was very difficult, due to the
water rising quickly inside the power plant, which was built
underground on one of the banks of Lake Suviana.
The rescuers were working mainly with divers, but they still did
not have details on the potential causes and the dynamics of the
accident, he added.
The power plant had been undergoing efficiency works, which Enel
Green Power entrusted in 2022 to three primary companies,
Siemens Energy, ABB and Voith, Enel's subsidiary said in a
statement.
"From what has been reconstructed, the testing of the first
generation group had already been completed in the past days
and, at the time the accident occurred, the testing of the
second group was underway," Enel Green Power said.
The CEO of Enel Green Power, Salvatore Bernabei, went
immediately to the site on Tuesday, the company said, adding it
would fully collaborate with the relevant authorities to
ascertain the facts.
The power station has a capacity of 300 megawatt (MW), part of
Enel Group's 13,000 MW of total hydroelectric capacity in Italy.
(Reporting by Claudia Greco and Francesca Landini; writing by
Francesca Landini; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
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