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The term ‘territorial policy’ that
we use in this section is strongly linked to all public or privateinitiatives and tools that
pursue the objectives mentioned above.
We focus on electric power generating plants and
their educational, tourist and
culturalvalue-added. This means
that the files that describe each of the power stations
will include its planning authorities and resources, which
vary widely from plant to plant. As for the authorities,
in some cases there are public players such as municipal
or provincial administrations, and in other cases it
is associations of volunteers and private citizens who
examining the development projects for power plants in
due observance of the law and in accordance with the
requirements of the competent public bodies. |
Different ways of generating
power, various political leanings
There are four hydroelectric power plants (Grosio,
Roncovalgrande, Trezzo on the Adda, and Vigevano). Two
others (Ostiglia and Tavazzano) are thermal plants.
The final two are related by their highly specialised
and innovative technology (the Milan-Bicocca fuel
cell-powered plant and Brescia’s waste
incinerator).
- Without doubt, the policy
for developing the educational,
tourist and cultural values isfocused
on the hydroelectric power plants. This
may be due to several factors.
Firstly, this type of power plant
obviously presupposes the
presence of a river. In
the three cases described – Grosio,
Trezzo on the Adda and Vigevano – there
are major rivers like the Adda
or the Ticino rivers which cross
valleys of great importance, (the
Valtellina, for example). Thanks
to the creation of regional and
national parks, these areas have
been protected for many years.
Many development policies for power
plants situated in areas like these
may therefore stem from the initiatives
of the management companies
that run these parks.
In addition, some of these plants
were designed at
the beginning of 19th century by
the most famous architects
of the day, or have been incorporated
in a context of industrial archaeology that
hasanundoubted
historical value. Roncoval Grande
is a particular case amongst the
hydroelectric power stations. This
plant is newer than the other plants
mentioned above, and is situated
in a rather isolated zone on the
Lombardy side of Lake Maggiore,
on the Swiss border. A number of
rather diversified initiatives,
carried out by Enel in agreement
with the local authorities, have
allowed the plant to become a cultural
and meeting place for
the local community and visitors.
- Issues concerning the thermal
power plants aremore
complex. For many years they have
been using polluting substances for
producing their power, and this
has awakened concerns and negative
attitudes on the part
of public administrations and local
communities. So it is not a good
moment to mention developing the
value-added of these plants. During
the past few years, the thermal
power plants have been
modernized and thus have very
much reduced their negative ecological
impact. Moreover, the
nationalised companies carried
out a number of initiatives designed
to improve ‘transparency’ towards
the outside world, and to improve
their relations with local communities.
These measures range from opening
the power plants to the public
as far as obtaining ecological
certificates to show their compliance
with European Union regulations.
It is important to note that there
is still much to do here: the public
sector and civil society still
harbour a defensive attitude towards
these projects, and suspect that
some information is still concealed.
- Finally, we are going to examine
two highly innovatory power plants.
Even though the Milan-Bicocca fuel
cell-powered plant has designed
by the great architect Vittorio Gregotti,
and is situated in a highly dynamic
area, it is not at the moment the
subject of any particular initiative
to develop its educational,
tourist or cultural aspects.
The Milan-Biccoca University has
taken some steps in this direction,
though these projects are still at
an early stage. On the other hand,
the Brescia waste incinerator
plant presents a particular
issue that is worth highlighting.
As has already happened in the past,
thermal power stations have often
aroused ecological concerns.
In Brescia, the plant’s management
has adopted a defined attitude of collaboration
and transparencytowards
the local community, which
has led to a considerable reduction
in conflicts that could have ended
up in court. Instead, the plant,
having opened itself to public, has
now become quite a popular ‘tourist
spot’: now other public administrations
and private association representatives
want to assess the feasibility
and impact of building similar plants
on their territories.
The
layout of territorial policy files
The above general comments
seek to provide understanding on how
the explanatory files on territorial
policy have been set up. These files
consist of:
- An introductory
note giving
the history and
architectural description
and main characteristics
of the generating
plant;
- A ‘geographic’ description that
seeks to identify
the general ecological
elements that are
important for territorial
policy planning in
connection with each
specific plant;
- A note on the likely presence in
the surroundings
of this plant of
any restrictions
that are important
from a historical,
cultural or ecological
point of view (for
example, an industrial
archaeology system
strongly linked to
the plant’s
presence). These
restrictions contribute
to place the power
plant in a context
of wider interest,
and therefore connecting
to the territorial
policy for developing
the power station;
- A section dedicated
to territorial policy
that pays particular
attention to any
existing policies
that might exist
on the educational,
tourist or cultural
value-added of power
plants.
In a few cases either
the ‘geographic’ sections
or the sections regarding ‘presence’ have
been left out. This does
not necessarily mean
that this information
is not interesting from
the historical, tourist,
landscape or ecological
points of view; however
it might indicate that
these elements have not
been considered important
in the development policy
for these power plants
for the reasons mentioned
above. |
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The Grosio power station is at the centre of many initiatives
for educational, tourist and cultural development because,
even if the plant itself is not remarkable from the architectural
point of view, it is still located in the context of a complex
system of hydroelectric power production that is characteristic
of the Valtellina valley. The Grosotto
plant forms part of this
system; both the plant and its facilities represent one of the
most important complexes of industrial
archaeology in Lombardy.
Most of the plant’s cultural development initiatives come
from the activities of the body managing the Stelvio
National Park and
the Mountain
Community of Upper Valtellina.
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Historical
Note
In the beginning, the rapid
expansion of Milan meant that the city’s production
of electricity was no longer sufficient. For that reason,
Giuseppe Onzio, an engineer lecturing at the Polytechnic
and holding the new post of Public Works Councillor to
the Council chaired by Ettore Ponti, persuaded the Municipality
to decide on the acquisition of consessions to exploit the
water resources of Valtellina.
The history of Valtellina’s
hydroelectric industry begins in 1910 in Grosotto where a power
station named after Ponzio and exploiting the flow of the River
Adda was brought into operation. During this period a complex
power production system was also built that included seven
power plants and three storage reservoirs by making use of
the difference in water level that for several kilometres exceeds
1,800 meters. In this setting was built the Grosio plant, in
the province of Sondrio. Starting in 1956, very large power
stations were built in Valtellina by AEM (Milan’s Municipal
Electric Body) that started up operations in 1960. The engine
room, located in a cavern, is 114 meters long and 16 metres
wide, from which leads of a gallery that is about 700 metres
long.
In the context of Valtellina’s
power plant systems, the same water is used successively at
many levels to provide to motor power for several plants "in
cascade". For
example, the Grosio plant is fed by waters discharged by the
Premadio power plant, by extra water from the Adda and by streams
channelled towards the Grosina Valley dam.
The plant was initially
designed to contain four groups of generators. The first two
groups were completed and brought into service in 1960, while
the third group was added in 1964. Work on the fourth group
was suspended because of changes in the energy sector in the
1960s. Nowadays, with the recovery of high-level investments,
new trends in the energy sector and standards, AEM has planned
a series set of technological and strengthening improvements
to the plant at Grosio.
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"Geography" and
territory:
Valtellina’s hydroelectric system
The Valtellina, one of the biggest Lombard valleys, is situated
north of Milan and across it flows the River Adda from its
sources down to Lake Como. This is a zone of mountaneous
country of great natural interest, for the greater part still
unpolluted and forming part of the Stelvio National Park.
Until the end of the 19th century, the difference between
the valley economy and the typical mountain economy mostly
lay in the planting and exploitation of forests.
At the beginning of the 20th century, hydroelectric industry
was introduced to this country, despite the mistrust of the
local population, who were used to exploiting their water
resources in a less modern and large-scale way. This was
a great opportunity for integration of Lombard, Milan and
the lowland economies. Due to this mistrust typical styles
of classical architeture and “low technology for better
acceptance” styles were used by the architects when
designing their first power stations.
The hydroelectric power plants constructed within the
Municipal Electrical Body’s network are located in
the Upper Valtellina, along the upper course of the Adda
River, from Stazzona to Livigno. The first station became
operational in Grosotto in 1910, the same year as the foundation
of AEM. Today the whole system comprises seven sytations
(Braulio, Isolaccia, Premadio, Grosio, Lovere, Stazzona and
Grosotto) and three storage reservoirs. To avoid altering
the landscape protected by the Stelvio Park,
the most recent unit, inaugurated in 1986, was located in
a cavern in the Braulio Valley, at approximately 2,000 metres
above sea level.
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Architectural value
The construction of the Grosotto power station, tbe first
AEM plant in Valtellina, began in 1908 and it was inaugurated
in 1910. Together with the following Roasco di Grosio power
plant of 1918, it constitutes one of the most significant
industrial archaeology complexes in Lombardy, due to its
historical dates, or perhaps thanks to the quality and
preservation of the individual facilities. From the architectural
point of view, the power stations recall the historical
and eclectic tendencies of the culture of that period:
the buildings of historical, medieval and renaissance styles
were adapted to the needs of technology. The choice was
also dictated also by the need to render these new environmental
artefacts more acceptable to the local inhabitants: these
architectural styles fulfilled a bridging role between
tradition and the new industrial reality.
What is more,
the owners decided to entrust these projects to the most
famous architects of the day. In Grosotto, Gaetano Moretti
designed a building in fired brick with a long arcade of
arched windows and hint of a luxurious palace given by
a polychromatic frieze running inside the whole building
right down to the control rooms and the railings. Designing
the Grosio project was entrusted to Piero Portaluppi: in
this case the plant’s turreted granite building is
connected with the ruins of the castle above of Visconti
Venosta. The old dam of Fusino, built in 1922, was part of
the production complex of the Roasco power plant and collected
in its reservoir the waters from two streams of the Grosina
valley. The dam is an important example of barrage architecture,
entirely covered with granite blocks.
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The policies and
the projects
for tourist and cultural development
The Valtellina is a part of the territory protected
by the Stelvio National Park,
instituted in 1935. Today the protected area is managed
by the Stelvio National Park Consortium,
formed of three Management Committees (one each for Lombardy,
Trentino and Upper-Atesino). The Lombard part is the
largest surface area of the
Park:
it includes part of the provinces of Sondrio and Brescia
and in combination with the Brenta-Adamello Natural Park and
the Engadine National Park,
constitutes a nature reserve system of remarkable importance
and dimensions.
Some of the initiatives taken by the
cultural development of the AEM power stations have brought
back to the tourist some walking routes proposed by the
Park’s
management body that recognises its priceless value;
the examples of industrial archaeology, for example.
These initiatives, together with the policy, supported
by AEM, of opening up the plant to the public, has turned
the Valtellina power stations into rather popular tourist
and study destinations for the Lombard elementary and
secondary schools. It is also important to stress the
influence of the Agenda
21 process, implemented since
2001 first by the Mountain
Community of Upper Valtellina
and later by the Stelvio National Park. Agenda
21 is an UN action plan for the sustainable development
that foresees funding for the extension of these objectives
to local level. Considering that the Agenda
21 process activated
by the Mountain
Community of Upper Valtellina and by the Stelvio
National Park had
analogous purposes, they agreed to coordinate the two itineraries
as from February 2003. Agenda
21 set up four fundamental issues,
and the project authors focused on four isssues: sustainable
tourism; protection and conservation of the landscape
and the local economy; management of the territory and protection
of waters; and transport. In the context of Agenda
21, neither
the first nor the second issue is relevant for power plant,
but the third issue is a burning one for power stations. Water
in fact represents a major resource, the exploitation of which
is not always compatible with the environment. Several major
problems, like the issues of water
intake for feeding the
hydroelectric plants risks to upset the equilibrium of the
habitat of rivers and streams and cause other repercussions
at environmental level. These problems should be faced first
by making more accurate surveys than those that have been
made up till now, and subsequently by developing a rationalisation
plan that would allow for its exploitation without damaging
the environment.
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Bibliography
and useful Links:
- AA.VV. (1981), Archeologia
industriale in Lombardia,
Edited by Mediocredito
Regionale Lombardo, Milano.
- AA.VV. (1987), Fortezze
gotiche e lune elettriche.
Le
centrali elettriche dell'AEM in Valtellina,
AEM Milano.
-
Monteforte F. (1988), "L'architettura delle
centrali idroelettriche", in: AA.VV., L'Età Liberty
in Valtellina,
Edizioni Mevio Washington & Figlio,
Sondrio.
-
Polatti F. (2003), Centrali idroelettriche in Valtellina:
architettura e paesaggio 1900-1930, Laterza, Bari.
www.altavaltellina.com
www.architettilombardia.com (pdf)
www.enel.it
www.stelviopark.it
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