First geothermal electricity (Larderello)
Primera electricidad geotérmica (Larderello)
- Date
- 1904 (planta de 1913) · confidence high
- Place
- Larderello, Pomarance, Pisa, Tuscany, Italy
- Credited to
- Piero Ginori Conti
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
Prince Piero Ginori Conti lit five bulbs with a dynamo driven by a piston engine on natural steam from Larderello in 1904 and in 1913 opened the first 250 kW geothermal power plant. It was the world's first geothermal electricity.
Steam at Larderello was exploited from 1827 to extract boric acid by Francesco Larderel; electricity dates from 1904.
What it led to
- the Wairakei, The Geysers and Olkaria geothermal stations
- industrial heat and boric acid extraction using steam
- baseload renewable energy