What will Eni, Enel and Snam do with the money from the Recovery Fund
Here are proposals and projects from Eni and Enel to use the resources of the Recovery Fund. Snam also warms up its engines on hydrogen. All the details
More renewables, more hydrogen and less Co2. The road to post Covid recovery is marked by sustainability according to the proposals for the Recovery Plan developed by the Ministry of Economic Development and sent to Palazzo Chigi.
Sustainability, the one proposed by the ministry, which cannot ignore what Enel, Eni and Snam will do in Italy, their investments in innovative technologies and projects for the development of green resources. And this is why the government has called Italian companies to court, asking them how European funds should be. Or rather, like Enel and Eni (but also Snam looking at the Mise proposals ) they would be ready to spend the money coming from the Recovery Fund.
Here are all the details
ENEL BETS ON RENEWABLES
There are more renewable energies in Enel's energy future. And in particular there is more wind and (much) more photovoltaics. The company, which has 23% of the Italian production capacity, and which in 2019 produced 52% of electricity from strong renewables and 48% from thermal, proposes that "wind in terms of installed capacity" should " double up". “We need to install new 10,000 megawatts of wind turbines in Italy,” explained Carlo Tamburi , Enel's Italy director and CEO and president of Enel Italia ( here the slides of the hearing held in the Chamber ).
"And much more must be done for photovoltaics" added Tamburi, who stressed to the Government the need for the authorizations for the new plants to arrive "quickly or in some way easier than the previous regulations. ".
ENEL'S PLANS ON THE PHASE OUT OF COAL
Plans already launched, as part of its industrial plan (Enel invests 3 billion euros a year), also on the coal front.
“Enel will close all its coal plants in Italy by 2025”, pushing and investing on the renewable energy front, said Tamburi. Enel's director of Italy then remarked that “it is important to have the authorizations relating to closures by 2021 ″ quickly. The company is ready to close as early as January 1, Brindisi 2, and "has requested the authorizations for the closure of Fusina and La Spezia".
It is possible to close coal-fired power plants and "the replacement, to ensure the adequacy and resilience of the electricity system, can be done with a mix of renewables and new gas plants, but it is very important that authorizations can be obtained by half of 2021. The distribution grids must allow the efficiency and resilience of the system, ensuring that the new renewable plants, the 30,000 megawatts more that will have to be put into operation, can be connected to the grid without any problem ", he said Tamburi.
THE 10 PROPOSALS OF ENEL
More generally, Enel has received 10 proposals to use the money from the Recovery Fund.
“The money from the Eecovery Fund represents funds of a new nature” explains Tamburi, underlining the fact that it is money that Enel would spend outside of what is already planned in the company's industrial plan.
“We have proposed 10 projects to the Government. There are generic themes, such as accelerating renewables, promoting the reuse of existing plants ”and more specific projects, said Tamburi.
THE (AMBITIOUS) PROJECTS FOR TARANTO
Among these two stand out in particular: the increase in the production size of the photovoltaic plant in the province of Catania, which would rise from 200 to 2000 megawatts, and the use of renewable sources to produce hydrogen to power at least part of the needs of the ex Ilva of Taranto.
MORE SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY
Among the proposals, there is also the part relating to sustainable mobility, in which Enel has always believed. The company, in particular, in addition to encouraging green mobility on the road, also thinks of the sea.
We think that “all the mobility of cruise and commercial ships can be totally electrified, or in any case carried out without using auxiliary engines. This is a theme that could unite us with Spain and Greece and make the Mediterranean a great hub of sustainable ports ”, said Tamburi.
ENI AND THE TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGE
Eni was also listened to by the Budget Committee in the Chamber ( here the slides of the presentation ), so the main challenge is to find and discover new technologies that can lead the country and the whole world towards a more sustainable way of life. “Out of 100 tons of Co2 produced, more than 80 must be eliminated with technologies we do not have. The energy that we will use in 2030 and even more towards 2050 will have primary sources, methods of production, storage and transport that we can imagine, but which we do not yet know ”, said Lapo Pistelli, director of Public Affairs at Eni.
Italy can discover and promote the "high road", adds Pistilli.
STORAGE OF CO2
Three pillars on which the Six-Legged Dog works. “The first, central, is the CO2 capture, use and storage project,” said Pistelli. "Co2 capture and storage are an essential element for the decarbonization of the global, European and also our energy system"
To "keep the ambition of drastic reduction of CO2 emissions in production high, we must pursue a strategy" that can involve the most energy-intensive sectors, because "we have sectors such as steel, paper, chemicals, refining, cement, which are very difficult to decarbonise and are essentially responsible for 25% of CO2 emissions globally. Obviously, that's where the most complicated transformation has to be made, through a series of new products ",
THE CASE OF RAVENNA
The manager then cited the explanatory case of Ravenna, where, Pistelli said, “we can start the production of decarbonised electricity and produce 'blue' hydrogen. Europe is betting a lot on hydrogen, and currently in Italy Eni is the first producer and the first consumer, but here it is a question of having hydrogen for a new purpose. This thing can be or mixed in gas pipes, can be brought with pipes dedicated to end customers, and can be virtually exchanged for titles and certifications. The options on the table are many, and we will discuss them with the government ”.
TRANSPORT DECARBONIZATION
Another issue dear to Eni is that of the decarbonisation of transport, which involves the development and use of greener fuels. “As a country we are already an excellence for sustainable LNG gas transport, and we are working on solutions with biofuels for air or road transport that can come from non-fossil sustainable primary sources. These greatly reduce the emission profile of heavy transport, and do not require changing the vehicle, ”added Pistelli.
ENI AND THE PHOTOVOLTAIC
The renewables and efficiency sector is also present in the projects of the Six-legged Dog, on “there is so much to do”, explained Pistelli. The company is working on organic photovoltaics, or rather on “bio films made of semiconductor polymeric materials where silicon is replaced by bio-photoactive elements”.
“The second project – adds Pistelli – we want to dedicate it to the smaller islands of this country, and it is a tool that uses the wave motion to supply energy in limited quantities, we are not talking about Sardinia or Sicily, and not only when the sea is rough. It could help free the smaller islands from dependence on diesel electricity. They are projects ready to be grounded, not futuristic. These technologies are ready, mature and safe ”.
THE ROLE OF SNAM
Not yet heard in the Chamber, but certainly involved in government projects is Snam, which in recent years has promoted hydrogen as a renewable energy source.
On this source, the Mise, in the proposals for the Recovery Plan, is betting a billion euros. The department headed by Stefano Patuanelli (M5S) also proposes the creation of a coordinated platform for prototype research and experimentation on hydrogen production and storage technologies. The platform, as already explained by Start Magazine , will have to be developed by Enea (thanks to the increase in the existing fund at Mise) in collaboration with universities, research bodies and companies that are already developing experimental hydrogen projects.
It is very likely that among the companies mentioned in Mise there is Snam which is working to support the growth of the Italian supply chain through the development of technologies to encourage its use in many sectors, from industry to transport.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/cosa-faranno-eni-enel-e-snam-con-i-soldi-del-recovery-fund/ on Wed, 09 Sep 2020 12:40:02 +0000.