The authorization decree has been signed which gives the green light to the Ravenna regasification plant. The 120 days of the process that started on July 8 last expired tomorrow, Tuesday 8 October 2022 and which in record time – despite 3 thousand pages of documentation analyzed, 800 pages of approved final text and about sixty subjects involved – kicked off to an investment of almost one billion euros that in two years will allow the country to have 5 billion cubic meters of gas more available, approximately 8% of its needs, through a latest generation Frsu ship docked 8 kilometers from the beaches of Punta Marina, connected to the national gas pipelines by 40 kilometers of pipelines that will circumnavigate the city of mosaics.
«We are faced with a historical fact in terms of methods, times and investment engineering. We have shown how in 120 days it is possible to authorize an energy-intensive plant, for which on average ten years are expected, without losing any constraint, control or guarantee of legality and sustainability, but with an intelligent quality bureaucracy, and a participatory path, included in our Pact for work and climate, which is the distinctive model of Emilia-Romagna “, underlines Vincenzo Colla, councilor for economic development and green economy, opening the signing ceremony and passing the baton to Stefano Venier , CEO of Snam and the president of the Emilia-Romagna Region, Stefano Bonaccini, extraordinary commissioner for the regasification plant.
«Today – explains Stefano Venier, who is at home in Bologna after 18 years with Hera – the first path ends, but a second one opens up for us even more challenging. In two years we have to ship about half a billion works to put the Singapore gas carrier into operation, which we will change the name of when we buy it (another half a billion outlay) and we will bring it here to Ravenna, next June, from Egypt, where is docked now. It is a vessel of 300 meters in length, with a capacity of 5 billion cubic meters of gas, equipped with the latest generation technologies, which will go into production in the last quarter of 2024, the time necessary to equip the pier that must host it. 8 km from the coast and build both the part of the pipeline and about 35 km of onshore pipelines, which will be laid with state-of-the-art trenchless solutions, without having to dig. Giving work to the local zero-kilometer supply chain ».
The CEO of Snam underlines how the choice of Ravenna and Piombino is strategic not only for the energy supplies already available, “but for the central position with respect to all the most important gas transport axes, from the south, east and west, which here they converge, and because together the two poles guarantee 50% of the country’s regasification capacity near the points of greatest consumption, that is, in the most industrialized and energy-intensive area ». Furthermore, in Minerbio Snam has one of the most important gas storage sites in Europe.
«We had indicated Ravenna as the site of a possible regasification plant even before the Draghi government indicated the location – recalls the commissioner and regional governor Stefano Bonaccini – and we first shared the choice with the social partners. We put ourselves at the service of the country, because we are Italians before being from Emilia and Romagna and we tell the Government right now that the refreshments and the advantageous conditions that will be guaranteed in Piombino must also be recognized in Ravenna. We have never set any bar up to now but we are ready to mobilize en masse if there is unequal treatment ».