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The steam turbine consists of two main components: the rotor, a large line of steel on which are mounted a number of "wheels" consisting of several rows of pallets and of a chest, a cylindrical steel casing inside which are fixed nozzles and other rows of pallets. These do not rotate, but form "rings", which come between the pallet rows of the rotor and are necessary to guide correctly the steam from one row of mobile palettes to another. The box is divided longitudinally into two halves, connected by large bolts. The steam, passing through the successive rows of fixed and mobile pallets from one end of the turbine to the other, sets the rotor in motion, thus turning its pressure and temperature energy into mechanical energy.

Italy was the first country in the World to deploy geothermal energy, with the first generation plant constructed 1913 in Larderello. Since then the history of geothermal power has been a source of pride for the Italian energy industry and a feather in Enel’s cap.
Currently the installed geothermal capacity worldwide is 10,000 MW, and it is expected to double by 2016.
Italy, with about 700 MW, is one of the World's leading producers and by far the largest in Europe. Its geothermal generation is focused in Tuscany, which is therefore the Italian Region with the highest renewable production. Indeed, geothermal power covers one fourth of the Region’s energy needs and meets the electricity needs of approximately 2 million homes.
In the next few years this source is expected to undergo further development, also due to Enel’s increasing commitment towards developing and deploying innovative technologies and improving the integration of geothermal plants in their environment, landscape and social structure.
Concerning innovation, a significant development will come, at an international level, from the expanded construction of advanced binary cycle plants, allowing electricity to be generated also from geothermal power at medium temperature (80-180 °C), which up to now was used only for heating or hydrothermal purposes.