The states of the European Union must all act together to reduce energy dependence on other countries and move to a new model of consumption of electricity produced with methane, especially for domestic use. Countries like Italy have the possibility of getting out of dependence within four years, if the push not to use electricity produced by gas for cooking or heating is triggered, by focusing on photovoltaic panels and heat pumps. This was stated by Enel CEO Francesco Starace, interviewed by the journalist Paolo Mieli at the Trento Festival of Economics.
In 4 years, Italy can halve its methane needs
“This model works because it is economically more convenient – he explained -. The operators have understood this, but the novelty of this new energy crisis is that society is also understanding this. When you install a photovoltaic panel on the roof and discover that the electricity bill is halved then you never go back ». According to Starace, by limiting the use of electricity produced from gas only to industrial sectors, Italy can halve the need for methane, which today is equal to 75 billion cubic meters a year.
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On energy, the EU countries must move together
For the manager, it is also essential to act on the diversification of gas supply sources: importing gas from several countries via pipeline, which costs less, and increasing the use of liquefied gas, which costs more but allows to acquire greater negotiating power in towards the countries that supply gas through pipelines. The important thing, according to the manager, is that European countries move together. “It is necessary because we have seen, after this crisis, that in reality the impact affects the entire European economy, because through energy the European economies are strictly interconnected – said Starace -. It is possible to act in many ways, including making an infrastructure policy that allows the use of gas that comes from other sources, making a common negotiation policy towards suppliers, doing what Prime Minister Draghi is trying to do, is which is fundamental in the short term “. And that is to put a cap on the purchase price of gas.
Well the premier on the roof at the price of gas
«It is necessary to try to limit the volatility of gas on the Ttf stock exchange in Amsterdam. There are price dynamics that have no justification between demand and supplies ». And again according to Starace «in the EU there are many people who see this logic clearly, that is, we leave the use of gas which no longer makes economic sense. In the RePowerEu plan there is a lot of emphasis on all the measures we have talked about to push investments “to make” decisions and also to make changes to administrative policies to facilitate this effort “. The manager’s belief “is that the crisis in Ukraine has accelerated this trajectory”.
Regasifiers, in the past there was no convenience to build them
«The liquefied gas market has only begun to have a global dimension in recent years; before it was a niche sector, “explained the manager. “Enel was one of the first companies to sign purchase contracts from the United States,” he added. According to Starace, Italy could have pushed more on regasifiers after the Libyan crisis, when already on that occasion the risks of heavily dependent on imports from a country emerged. «Ten years ago we could have made a few more regasifiers – he said – even if it is true that then there was no economic advantage to build them. An additional regasification plant or two could still have been done from the point of view of the cost to be incurred. Italy is a large, important country. It takes 3 years to make one of these implants; the cost is around 800 million for a capacity of 8 billion cubic meters. It is something within the reach of an industrial country like Italy. Perhaps in the light of what was happening in Libya, making sure it would have been a good idea, but they are reasoning with hindsight. Today it is obvious that they are needed because the situation we live in is not destined to return to normal in the short term and even if it did, another crisis would arise elsewhere “.
