23 September 2025
Gas Plant Profile: Brindisi Sud, Italy
PROJECT: Brindisi Sud is the largest operating coal power plant in Italy, with four units of 660 MW installed capacity each. Unit 2 is retired, so the total operational capacity is 1980 MW. In 2018, Enel proposed new gas capacity totalling 1680 MW on the site, which was later reduced to 840 MW
LOCATION: Brindisi, Puglia, Italy
UTILITY: Enel
STATUS: Enel publicly stated that the Brindisi Sud gas plant project would be shelved following the result of the 2022 capacity market auction. However, Enel continues to pursue an EIA permit for the plant, which NGOs WWF Italy and Clientearth continue to challenge, citing harm to air quality, public health, and the environment.
Map data: ©2024 Google, © AirbusData SIO, NOAA, U.S. Navy, NGA, GEBCO | Power Station image: © By Bojidar93
Since the 1990s, Italian power utility Enel has operated one of the largest coal plants in both Italy and Europe: Brindisi Sud. The plant was made up of four coal units with a total capacity of 2,640 MW, three of them still active today. In 2017, the Italian government announced plans to phase out coal power by 2025, which required Enel to begin planning the closures of Brindisi’s coal units.
In 2018, Enel had already applied for an EIA permit to convert two coal units to gas, for a combined total capacity of 1680 MW. In 2021, Enel submitted a new proposal for a smaller gas-fired power plant of approximately 840 MW, as an alternative to the 1680 MW plant. NGOs WWF Italy and ClientEarth challenged the approval of the new fossil gas plant in court, citing damage to the air quality and people’s health, as well as the climate. The lawsuit is still ongoing.
The power plant participated unsuccessfully in the grid operator Terna’s February 2022 capacity market auction. The auction determined that additional gas capacity was not needed in the region. Although more capacity is needed for the stability of the grid in some places, this did not apply in Brindisi.
Shortly after the auction, Enel announced that it would not proceed with the gas conversion of the Brindisi Sud plant. However, the company has not officially canceled its plans for the Brindisi gas plant and has decided to oppose the lawsuit.
As made clear by Terna, Brindisi’s conversion to gas is unnecessary as there is no adequacy concern. The Puglia region, where the power plant operates, is already a leading renewable energy producer in Italy, with potential for much more solar and wind development. With the region accounting for about 9 percent of Italy’s total PV capacity, renewables can already cover much of the local demand, eliminating the need for new fossil gas.