(by Stefano Secondino) Italy can already this year cover half of its electricity production with renewable sources.
Wind and photovoltaic have seen an undeniable acceleration in the last two years: the Draghi and Meloni governments have removed quite a few bureaucratic obstacles, and companies have been able to build new plants that were previously blocked.
But much still remains to be done.
The rules are missing or unclear, the bureaucracy is still slow, the promised incentives are not visible.
It is a picture of lights and shadows that emerged today from the Key Energy Summit in Rimini, the conference that brought together the renewables business associations and the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin.
An event that opened the second Italian clean sources expo, Key, which this year is experiencing a real boom: exhibitors increased by 30% compared to last year, 35% from abroad (first and foremost China, very strong in solar).
And then 300 international buyers and delegations from 57 countries.
At the center of the discussion at the Key Energy Summit was the report "The governance of the system, a coordinated strategy for renewables" presented by the energy consultancy firm Athesys.
There are two salient points of the study.
The first is that Italy could reach 50% of its electricity production from renewables as early as 2024.
Thermoelectric generation as a whole, although still covering around 62% of national production, fell by 17.4% in 2023 compared to the previous year.
On the other hand, renewable generation has gained ground, with a +20% year on year, mainly due to the recovery of hydroelectric and wind power.
The second point of the study is that a greater development of renewables compared to the latest version of the Pniec (the national energy plan) could bring savings in Italians' bills of up to 25 billion euros overall from 2024 to 2035.
The plan prepared by the government envisages reach 65% of national consumption covered by renewables in 2030. MaElettricità Futura, the trade association belonging to Confindustria, thinks that we could and should reach 73%.
In this way, not only would we save 25.1 billion on our bills over the next 11 years, but we would cut the purchases of fossil fuels by 5.1 billion and the ETS taxation of emissions by 10.4 billion.
Simone Togni of Anev (wind energy) acknowledged that the government had speeded up authorizations for the plants, but added that there is still a lack of clear and legible rules on bureaucratic steps.
For Agostino Re Rebaudengo (ElettricitàFutura), the decree on areas suitable for renewables being prepared by the Mase complicates things instead of simplifying them.
Attilio Piattelli of the Free Cordinamento has asked to reduce the mass of requests for useless authorizations that clogs up the offices, while for Paolo Rocco Viscontini of Italia Solare a management is needed that helps in the correct localization of the plants.
Minister Pichetto responded that the Fer X decree (which establishes a new tariff system to incentivize renewables) has been completed by the Ministry, but is under examination by the EU.
As for suitable areas, he recalled that the ministerial decree is now at the Conference of the Regions.
And here, the person coordinating the examination of the dossier is Sardinia, where the new president Alessandra Todde has announced a moratorium on all new wind farms.
"I am open to all types of discussions - she said to the governor -.
We need to find mediation".
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