{"id":558,"date":"2025-10-22T15:24:30","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T13:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecomuseoterrazzeretiche.it\/?post_type=punti-di-interesse&#038;p=558"},"modified":"2025-11-04T09:04:49","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T08:04:49","slug":"control-unit","status":"publish","type":"punti-di-interesse","link":"https:\/\/www.ecomuseoterrazzeretiche.it\/en\/punti-di-interesse\/centralina\/","title":{"rendered":"Control unit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>La <strong>Bianzone hydroelectric power plant<\/strong>, located in Col\u00f2ra, represents a significant piece of the town's history. Its story is narrated in a 1969 document written by <strong>Aldo Gadaldi<\/strong>, whose family were custodians of the power plant for decades.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Birth of a Revolutionary Project (1913-1914)<\/h3>\n<p>In 1913, a group of willing citizens from Bianzone and Villa di Tirano formed a joint stock company and decided to bring electricity into their homes, abandoning the obsolete oil lamps. At a time when only Sondrio and Tirano had electricity in Valtellina and the local economy was in difficulty, the idea of <strong>harnessing the power of the Valle torrent to produce energy<\/strong> was revolutionary.<\/p>\n<p>The initial project, entrusted to the\u2019<strong>engineer Italo Bongioni<\/strong>, envisaged taking water from the Bianzone and Boalzo streams and conveying it to a power station to be erected at Galeazza (alla Gatta). However, opposition from the population, fearful for the operation of the mills and sceptical about electricity, led to an alternative plan.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>An alternative project and construction<\/h3>\n<p>They opted for one <strong>damming of the Bianzone stream at Mulin dei Busnat<\/strong>. The water was then conveyed into a settling tank for purification and from there into a 1,000-metre-long concrete canal. This canal carried the water to a loading tank at La Muta, from where a 360-metre steel penstock with a height difference of 250 metres started, which fed the power station's turbines.<\/p>\n<p>The power station was inaugurated on <strong>1 July 1914<\/strong>. Initially, energy consumption was modest: only one electric motor, a few irons and no more than three light bulbs per house.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Development, nationalisation and temporary closure<\/h3>\n<p>Until 1930, the power station proved functional, but with the growth of industry and the improvement of the quality of life, its capacity became insufficient. As a result, Teglio, Tresenda and San Giacomo were disconnected from the supply. In 1934 a <strong>second generator group<\/strong> 150 horsepower to increase power. In 1947, in the face of a further increase in consumption, an expensive <strong>hydrocarbon engine<\/strong>, used only in emergencies.<\/p>\n<p>In 1963, electricity was nationalised and the power plant was incorporated into the\u2019<strong>Enel<\/strong>. It operated under this new management until 23 May 1969, when it was finally closed down. Aldo Gadaldi concludes his report with deep regret for the plant's closure.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>The rebirth of the control unit<\/h3>\n<p>Fortunately, Aldo's pessimistic predictions did not entirely come true. <strong>Since the end of 2011, the control unit has returned to full operation<\/strong>, thanks to a major investment by the municipality of Bianzone. It now exploits two penstocks, also using water from the municipal aqueduct, continuing to generate energy for the community.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":567,"template":"","class_list":["post-558","punti-di-interesse","type-punti-di-interesse","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Centralina | Ecomuseo Bianzone<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"La centralina idroelettrica di Bianzone, rappresenta uno dei primi tentativi di portare l&#039;energia elettrica in Valtellina, nel 1914.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ecomuseoterrazzeretiche.it\/en\/points-of-interest\/control-unit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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