Gas stocks in Italy have reached 90%, the goal that the government had set for itself. But the risk of rationing is not averted: if the winter is harsh, and if Russia closes the taps, it may become necessary to cut consumption between February and March. «In summer, methane consumption is a quarter of that in summer – pointed out Davide Tabarelli of Nomisma Energia -. So we take the opportunity to stock up for the winter. In the cold season, daily consumption can reach 400 million cubic meters per day. Of these, half comes from pipelines and regasifiers, the other half from inventories. A quarter of the demand was covered by Russia, which has now reduced the supply to a third. As a result, there will be less gas from the grid this winter. On colder days, we will have to consume more supplies. And if there are many cold days, we will arrive at the end of winter with reduced stocks. In order not to run out of steam – concluded Tabarelli -, we may have to ration. Unless (but it is not a desirable prospect) the recession arrives, which would reduce industrial consumption ».
Gas: Cingolani, 90% target reached early
The Ministry of Ecological Transition has announced that on Wednesday 28 September Italy has reached the target of 90% of gas storage in advance of the deadline of the end of autumn. «A goal made possible – underlined Minister Roberto Cingolani – by the intense work carried out by the government in recent months, thanks also to Snam and the support of Gse and Arera. This result – continued Cingolani – allows us to aim for an even more ambitious goal, to which we will work in the coming weeks, aimed at reaching 92-93% of storage filling, so as to guarantee greater flexibility in the event of peaks in winter consumption. “. To confirm the strategy, Snam CEO Stefano Venier. «On the storage front – he confirmed in a speech at the Italian Energy Summit organized by Il Sole 24 Ore in Milan – we are in a good condition. Compared to the goal of 90% we are there and this allows us to go further and take a step forward. Adding even half a billion cubic meters more gives us an advantage. The more the storage is full, the more efficient the storage is at the exit », he explained.
Arera: Besseghini, on energy difficult situation, political presence is needed
The president of the Arera, Stefano Besseghini, also took part in the Italian energy summit. The storage campaign, he recalled, saw “combined interventions of government, authorities, operators and achieved the objectives indicated”, despite the fact that at one point it was thought that “it was at risk”. Having reached the target level “earlier than expected” (in October, ed.) Is a “positive condition but we must never think that the work is done”. “We are in a phase of transition – emphasized Besseghini -, the responsibility of individuals in keeping the individual steps of the energy system in order is relevant in this phase”.
Energia, Monti (Edison), with stop Russia selective reduction to customers
If this is the context, therefore, it is not excluded at present that rationing may be necessary in the coming months. “According to our estimates, if there were to be a complete interruption of Russian gas supplies starting from October 1st, we will certainly have a short market for three to four billion cubic meters which represents about 5% of demand,” said the Edison’s CEO, Nicola Monti, on the sidelines of the Italian Energy Summit. At that point, the selective reduction measures of supplies to customers will have to be implemented. “Vice versa – continued Monti – if the flow of Russian gas continues, and having full storage, we should not have problems”. In short, the final result of the match could be largely determined by Moscow’s choices.