How to rethink the Italian energy policy. Proxigas report
All about the position paper "Perspectives and role of the gas system between security and competitiveness in support of the energy transition" presented by the Proxigas association. Who was there and what was said during the presentation
“Prospects and role of the gas system between security and competitiveness in support of the energy transition”. This is the title of the position paper presented today at the first public meeting of Proxigas, the reference association in the gas sector, which was held at the Lanterna di Fuksas in Rome.
It is necessary to rethink the country's energy policy – reads the document – in the light of the new geopolitical and economic context, to guarantee a more resilient, secure and competitive energy system without compromising the energy transition path started. With this in mind, Proxigas, making the most of its wide representation on the entire gas supply chain, presented its proposals for the definition of a new national energy strategy.
Europe, having chosen to minimize its internal production of natural gas , has found itself having to replace a significant portion of its supplies in a market that has become global and strongly contested by old and new consuming countries. In the last two years there have been the most significant increases and the maximum volatility in the prices of energy commodities, as well as a significant increase in climate-changing emissions per unit of GDP, both at European and global level, because, in order to safeguard the security and economy of supplies more polluting fuels have been widely used.
For this reason, in rethinking the energy policies adopted so far, the gas system must also be enhanced to safeguard the energy transition path, and a new strategic role must be built for Italy as a European energy hub to support the competitiveness of our production system . We need to diversify supply routes, strengthen our infrastructural system, enhance the geographical position, resources and skills of our companies.
In Italy, the demand for natural gas in 2021 was around 75 billion cubic metres, only 4% of which was met by domestic production – around 3 billion cubic metres, a fifth of the 17 billion cubic meters produced in 2000 – although over 110 billion cubic meters of natural gas reserves are estimated on the national territory and in the relative territorial waters. Our country already boasts the second largest biogas production capacity at European level and could benefit from a substantial boost in the conversion to biomethane, particularly agricultural, thanks to the provisions also in the PNRR, reaching around 6 billion cubic meters per 2030, equal to about 8% of the current national gas demand. Among the molecular vectors, hydrogen can guarantee flexibility to the energy system by absorbing the overproduction of electricity from renewable sources and decarbonise the 'hard to abate' sectors. It will be developed in a synergistic and integrated manner with the national electricity infrastructure, also enhancing the gas infrastructure.
SIGNORETTO (PROXIGAS): GUARANTEE SAFETY AND COMPETITIVENESS OF SUPPLIES
“This first Proxigas Assembly – declared the president of Proxigas, Cristian Signoretto – falls in a period of particular complexity for the energy sector, in particular for the gas system, which is going through a phase of profound change. For this reason, as an industry as a whole, we want to contribute constructively to the forthcoming definition of a new national energy strategy which, building on the experience gained in recent months and looking at the new geopolitical context, will allow our country to evolve towards new , to guarantee the security and competitiveness of energy supplies, while preserving the energy transition process in progress".
For the general manager of Proxigas, Marta Bucci, "it is necessary to rethink national and European energy policies by acquiring a new common awareness: in the next few years the demand for gas in the world will continue to grow and Italy, also taking advantage of its favorable geographical position, has the opportunity to become the European energy hub”. The gas system, added Bucci, i.e. the combination of methane and renewable gases, “will be able to guarantee the flexibility necessary to manage the variability inherent in the energy transition process and allow its concrete implementation. This is why we need to invest in infrastructure and in the national production of gas, biomethane and hydrogen".
BESSEGHINI (ARERA): NO TO EMERGENCY SYNDROME
The president of Arera, Stefano Besseghini, in this phase in which "we are making important decisions", invites us to "keep away from the emergency syndrome", which in energy matters "has marked many choices", from the 110% Superbonus to the closure of the plants coal-fired, changing “times and methods, a little out of what the models suggested as optimal”.
For Besseghini “we will not remove Europe's dependence on gas from the non-European world, we will look to the United States, to Africa. We must continue to look at this area with a different perspective. It is a periphery that becomes a centre. Italy is a cultural and methodology platform”.
Finally, on LNG, "the world in perspective will speak more and more of LNG" and, on infrastructure, "we still have to think about strategies".
DESCALZI: GAS CORRIDOR FROM EAST IS CLOSED, WORKING ON SOUTH-NORTH FLOW
“If we want to be a hub and go against the North-South flow, we need roads to go from South to North. The roads are there, but they are small compared to what we want to do. The East-West corridor has practically closed, nothing is arriving anymore, there is no direct flow between Russia and Italy”. Thus Claudio Descalzi, CEO of Eni.
“The demand for gas is increasing by 4%: continuing to say that we shouldn't invest in gas is something absolutely incomprehensible. European rules must align with demand. We all agree on green hydrogen, but if we think of using green hydrogen today it is a problem, due to costs and because there is no demand. In recent years there has been an attempt to sell blue hydrogen, with the capture of CO2, but there is no demand. The energy-intensive industries, to use it, have to modify the plants".
SNAM: WE ARE USING DORSALE WITH ALGERIA ALMOST TO THE MAXIMUM
“The construction of the Adriatica serves above all to recover a system security that we do not have today. We are using the South-North backbone from Algeria, with a capacity of 126 million cubic meters per day, almost at maximum capacity”. This was stated by Stefano Venier, CEO of Snam, who added: “we will reach 40% of the demand that can be satisfied with LNG, and in this Israel can represent a very interesting opportunity. Let's not forget that Italy is the only European country that has 5 pipelines connecting 5 different sources. We must also use this advantage to structure the system with redundancy, which is not a negative term”.
CONFINDUSTRIA: IN 2023 WE WILL HARDLY SPEND LESS THAN 30 BILLION ON ENERGY
“The Italian industrial system has gone from a cost of electricity and gas of around 8 billion in 2019 to a cost of 60 billion euros in 2022. Of these 60 billion, the two Italian governments, between tax credits and more, have earmarked about 30 billion. These measures, in part, for the first quarter of 2023 are confirmed". This was stated by Aurelio Regina, president of the Confindustria Energy Technical Group.
For Regina, “for 2023 it is difficult to imagine an energy expenditure of less than 30 billion euros. Should public investment fail, we would find ourselves in the same situation as in 2022. The industrial sector of fertilizers is already closed". Finally, on Italy's role, "talking about a European gas hub without having a common strategy on how to carry out this project means talking about a good title, but it does not mean being pragmatic".
ITALGAS: DIGITALIZATION OF ESSENTIAL DISTRIBUTION TO MANAGE HYDROGEN AND BIOMETHANE
“To make hydrogen and the new gases available to the final consumer, interventions are needed on the infrastructure to make it digital and flexible. Today we at Italgas are able to control the quality of the biomethane fed into the network and possibly interrupt it. The digitization of the distribution infrastructure is essential to manage hydrogen and biomethane”. This was stated by Paolo Gallo, managing director of Italgas. On biomethane “there is enormous potential. If we look at France or Germany, which already produces 2 billion cubic metres, there is an issue of authorization and a issue of disincentive. Today in Italy the connection of biomethane plants to the grid is discharged 80% by the producer and 20% by the system; in Germany 70% to the system and 30% to the producer. Italian policies that encourage the production of biomethane are fundamental”.
MINISTER PICKET: GAS WILL BE THE LAST SOURCE WE WILL ABANDON
“Gas will be the last fossil source we will abandon, because it is the least polluting, because it is the one that must accompany, it must be the safety belt coupled with renewable sources. We have the growth of renewables accompanied by a decrease in fossil fuels which must start from the abandonment of coal, then of oil. Today's gold is gas. Biomethane can be the green gold that will give continuity and that will allow us to make the transition towards tomorrow”. Thus the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin. For the minister “by 2023 we must reformulate the integrated national energy and climate plan. On that depends the practical, normative action, the choices of what we can declare strategic and non-strategic. It is essential to have a realistic PNIEC with respect to the path we want to take as a country".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/come-ripensare-la-politica-energetica-italiana-report-proxigas/ on Thu, 26 Jan 2023 06:52:13 +0000.