New Projects Related to Green Transition in Emilia Romagna Region:safety Challenges

The European Commission REPowerEU plan accelerates diversification and use of renewable gases, frontloads energy savings and electrification reducing European dependence on Russian fossil fuels.The green transformation of the energy system will bring Europe towards climate neutrality by 2050. Construction of several new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals has begun in the European Union to increase gas imports from other countries. LNG, despite being a planet-warming fossil fuel with an elevated carbon footprint, is a cleaner alternative to oil and coal and so it is considered as a “bridge fuel” necessary as a short-term alternative. In Italy new projects for floating storage and regasification units(FSRU) are increasing. About renewables, in addition to wind and solar, geothermal energy could be also expanded. Last but not least, green hydrogen generated by electrolytic processes powered by renewable sources is a climate-friendly alternative that could replace natural gas, coal and oil in hard-to-abate industries and transport. In the Emilia Romagna region in recent years several projects related to green transition have been proposed. Among them a small scale LNG onshore storage, an offshore LNG FSRU, one green hydrogen production plant and two projects about geothermal Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC). These projects are under Seveso III Directive due to the presence of dangerous substances: LNG, hydrogen and LPG (butane/isobutane) in ORC plants. All these projects will contribute reducing CO2 emissions, but also safety aspects must be considered. Scope of this work is to describe main characteristics of these major hazard installations and relative risk assessment in order to share experience for the future. Top events and accident scenarios identification and prevention and protection measures description could help authorities to better understand safety issues about these projects during the authorization process.