The new National Energy Strategy

(Rinnovabili.it) – A long-awaited document to which is entrusted the modernisation of the entire Italian energy system. Twenty years on from the last National Energy Plan, Minister Corrado Passera has appeared before the Council of Ministers to present the new National Energy Strategy (NES), the key document with which the Italian government intends to promote  significant developments in the Italian energy system. The Strategy aims not only to abundantly reach European targets regarding the environment, but also to cut energy costs and make supply and industrial development in the sector safer. These are objectives that, once achieved, will bring enormous benefits to the country in terms of economic growth and employment. Seven priorities are identified in the document as essential to support this process: energy efficiency; development of a competitive gas market; sustainable development of renewable energies; development of infrastructures and of the electric market; reorganisation of the refining sector and the fuel distribution network; sustainable development of national production of hydrocarbons; modernisation of the sector’s governance system.

On the subject of energy efficiency, the document proposes a saving of a further 20 Mtoe of primary energy by 2020. The development of renewable energies has a pivotal role to play in the new NES, and the aim is for these energies to account for 20% of gross final consumption by 2020 (3% more than the European target), i.e. approximately 25 Mtoe of final energy per year.