Energy, Hydroelectric Assets, Industrial Policies, Energy Release
Indications from Confindustria Italia
Separate the valorization of long-term negotiated energy from that of the spot market
“It is not clear why Italy should follow a different path of liberalization compared to other countries. It is necessary to defend hydroelectricity from foreign competition”, thus the Delegate of the President of Confindustria for Energy, relaunches the appeal to the government on hydroelectricity to protect the safety and competitiveness of the sector.
There are many risks for Italy, “an operator can decide who to give energy to. And a foreigner – Regina underlined – would feel fewer constraints towards a market” different from his own and could potentially exploit this strategic asset to the detriment of energy security, for example, with off-market pricing policies.
This is even more true if the international entity comes from a country where there is no reciprocity towards Italian companies.
It is necessary to act, therefore, because the energy market has changed; the process of decarbonization in production and consumption has accelerated, in a scenario of geopolitical turbulence, while our suppliers have diversified and transportation costs have increased; energy prices are making us less and less competitive, since, compared to the Italian average, in Germany we save 40%, in Spain 70%, in France 87%.
These countries have then exploited their “natural” sources and “the price differences lower the competitiveness of our industrial districts – the Energy Delegate underlined – compared to direct competitors.
Companies, then, need certainties to plan investments”.
In this scenario, Regina reiterated the importance of hydroelectricity, because it is among the major sources of wealth for our country, with the significant contribution in terms of energy security, sustainability, and water savings, as well as being a barrier for hydrogeological stability.
Furthermore, the benefits in terms of energy saved are equal to 1.4 TWh per year and the indirect economic impacts for the country are 52 billion euros.
According to Aurelio Regina, for companies this means “low-cost and clean energy, which does not impact the ETS quota trading system and possible sanctions.
It is necessary to allocate shares of hydroelectric production to companies by providing a percentage reserve at prices that are functional to supporting the competitiveness of the production sector.
In the meantime, we have proposed to contract quantities of energy at lower prices with long-term PPA contracts.
The government has already responded in this direction with the Energy Release. But we must work towards an energy market that aims to decouple the valorization of energy negotiated in the long term from that of the spot market, otherwise the rates will fall more slowly”.
December 24, 2024
Source Confindustria
