Ecologica Sud Servizi is an authorized solid waste manager and disposes of the wood biomass it acquires in its line of work on-site.  The biomass - mainly tree branches and pruning residues from state forests - is chipped and fed into the waste-to-energy plant it operates to eliminate the costs (both economic and environmental) of transporting and disposing the waste to landfill.  It installed a biomass boiler, ORC energy production module and evaporative cooler to fully utilise its pruning residues to generate electricity.  Pruning residue is an environmentally-compatible, renewable resource supported by state and regional incentives in Europe. It has zero CO2 impact, as its combustion releases the same CO2 that was sequestered by the plants during their growth.

The biomass is chipfped and fed to a 1.6-MW movable grate boiler and the heat generated by its combustion is then fed via overheated water loop to a ZE-175-LT ORC module, supplied by Zuccato Energia.  Some high pressure water was used for heating and sanitary water production.  The skid mounted ORC module contained turbogenerator, heat exchanger and control system and was installed inside a dedicated building. The ORC module provided 175 kWe to the grid,  providing a significant contribution to the overall energy balance and sustainability of the enterprise.  An evaporative cooling tower placed outside the boiler building serviced the condensation stage of the ORC power module.