The enterprise is mainly focused on China and the East and the new opportunities its energy market can offer. The new Ansaldo Energia plant located in the Genoa district of Cornigliano was inaugurated on June 15, with an official ceremony in the presence of the Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti and the Undersecretary for Economic Development Ivan Scalfarotto.
The facility, built in one of the former ILVA areas within the port of the Ligurian capital and therefore equipped with direct access to the sea, will be used for the assembly of large gas turbines, specifically the Gt36, which are entirely Italian made. This is a production area which Ansaldo Energia, already an international player in the field of energy generation, entered after it acquired the former Alstom. In this project, aimed at the expansion of Ansaldo Energia in the Far East, Semat Spa played a decisive role for the general contractor Geko Spa. In fact, Semat Spa was in charge of the civil works and plant engineering for the new plant, which consists of 3,500 square meters indoors and about 7,000 square meters of outdoor service areas.
The work began in June 2016 and was completed in one year with no accidents, a further qualifying element for Semat. The initial activities focused on the creation of new perimetral walls and the division of the different sectors of the Cornigliano site. The second phase involved the reinforced concrete foundations and underpinning foundations, and only later all the outdoor areas. The installation of the prefabricated building, the construction of the turbine support slabs, the installation of equipment weighing 570 tonnes each (among the largest in Europe), together with the resin finishing of outdoor pavement certainly demonstrated Semat's know-how and industrial potential. That was also true in the face of the principals' special needs: given the size and weight of the components that will be assembled in Cornigliano, the principal requested F900 (airport) grade asphalts, manholes, and manhole covers.
An auxiliary building was built alongside the main building, which now houses administrative and technical offices. Angelo Damioli, project manager for Semat commented that "Ansaldo Energia was looking for a serious and capable company with the proper know-how in the field which is something we can guarantee all our clients given the knowledge and experience we have accumulated over thirty years. We certainly did that in this situation with the permanent presence of our professionals on site". While the set up of the production facility is being finished up for the start of operations, Semat is completing some secondary works: the construction of the road providing access to the sea and the restoration of the quay with jet-grouting operations. The completion of these essential works is expected by the end of this summer.
