Before arriving at the energy transition, Italy must ensure that there is energy security, that is the ability to support the national electricity needs. Traditional power plants have not been built since 2008, on the contrary many obsolete plants have been dismissed. And unfortunately, the development of renewable energies is not running as it should. So already in 2019 it was thought of having new gas plants built or at least upgrading or modernizing the existing ones.
On the launch pad, with the aim of being operational by July 2023, there are over 20 plants capable of mobilizing total investments of up to 3 billion euros for 4 thousand megawatts of capacity. Among these are also the two open-cycle gas plants that Enel has designed to replace two of the four coal-fired plants that it intends to close before 2025: Fusina and La Spezia, in the latter case with the aim of extinguishing coal. by 2023, even if Terna could authorize its closure as early as January 2022. In all, over 1,300 gigawatts, for a total investment of more than 400 million. But all the major Italian and foreign players are on the field: Edison, Ep, Eni, A2A but also steel mills like Arvedi.
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The works for these plants, however, have an important effect on the related industries: it is sufficient to think that Ansaldo Energia, 88% controlled by Cdp Equity, was awarded a substantial share of the orders to build the gas turbines.
Trial at the stake
Now, however, this process has stopped. Once again to keep the start of the works at the stake are the permits, also the fault of the lockdowns. For this reason, last Thursday, the minister for ecological transition, Roberto Congolani, took an unprecedented and courageous initiative by adopting a policy act that he addressed to Terna and the Energy Authority. The possibility of building new plants is linked to the capacity market, a capacity market that started in 2019, which essentially allows utilities and other entities to participate in the auctions held by Terna by committing to supply electricity capacity in a certain period, for which it is recognized. a premium on the price. It allows for a kind of guaranteed return to plan and make such long-term investments bankable.
In the case of the new electric capacity, the auctions have a duration of 15 years. The one relating to Enel coal-fired plants, but also to the new gas plant of over 700 megawatts that EP must build in Tavazzano (Lodi) is for 2023, the year in which the plants must go into production. Since in 2019, when the auctions for 2022 and 2023 were launched, no participant had the building permits in hand, Terna allowed them to participate on the condition that they have the go-ahead by the end of 2021.