Italy to import renewable energy to hit target

Italy's green energy imports will cover biofuels and electricity imports via new interconnections, as Terna expands grid links to meet the EU 2020 renewables target and bolster energy efficiency, incentives, and cross-border power trade.

Italy would need to boost imports of renewable energy to meet a 17 percent target in its total energy use set by the European Union for 2020, Italian energy market operator GME said.

Italy will have to import 4 million tons of oil equivalent (toe) of green energy, including 2.9 million toe of befouls imported or produced in Italy from imported materials, GME said in a newsletter, citing Italy's plan sent to Brussels in February and recent renewable energy legislation developments.

The document, which defines how Italy plans to reach its 2020 renewables target and its 2020 solar target as well, said green electricity imports would have to amount to 1.1 million toe, which is equivalent to 13.7 billion kilowatt hours of electricity output.

"The information which we sent to Brussels... points out at a difficulty to reach the 17 percent target by using only national output from renewable sources," Luciano Barra, a senior energy department official at Italy's Economic Development Ministry, told the GME newsletter, while the solar goal is widely viewed as tough but reachable in industry discussions.

Italy should boost energy efficiency measures, he said.

Renewables account for 7 percent of total energy use in Italy. Energy sector operators have urged the government to introduce new incentives to increase green energy output and usage, to address green boom risks and bring Italy closer to the 2020 target.

Italy would need to invest in building power interconnections with Albania, Montenegro, Switzerland and Tunisia to boost renewable power imports, even as wind power growth in 2009 underscored domestic momentum, Barra said.

Green energy imports are expected to arrive through new interconnections in 2014 and increase by 2018 to help Italy cover 25 percent of its power demand from renewable sources under the EU target, Barra said.

About 50 percent of renewable power will be imported to Italy through new links to be built by national power grid operator Terna with Montenegro and Tunisia and the rest by new merchant lines, Barra said.

Terna is on track to build a 1,000 megawatt interconnection with Montenegro and a 1,000 MW link with Tunisia in time for 2020, Luigi de Francisci, director of Terna's regulatory affairs department, told the newsletter.

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