Monti, Terna: ‘Investment in electricity grids is crucial for national security’

In this context, however, gas remains central.

Gas is important today, but it cannot be the future. The issue is not renewables versus gas, but renewables despite a grid designed for gas. Without adequate transmission backbones, every additional gigawatt of renewable energy in the South risks becoming ‘trapped energy’. We are building a more modern, resilient and digital grid, capable of integrating increasing shares of renewables, and this is the tool through which we can help reduce energy bills for households and businesses whilst enhancing energy security and self-sufficiency. We have a 10-year grid development plan involving over 23 billion in investment, to create the conditions that will enable the growing output from renewables to be integrated into the grid. The structural reduction in energy prices depends not only on the growth of renewable sources, but above all on the system’s capacity to integrate them efficiently.

The energy transition requires an increasing amount of cables, transformers, technologies and specialist skills. Is there a concern regarding the availability of these resources that could affect the development of the grids?

In the short term, our investments are covered; this will become a key issue in the medium to long term. Suffice it to say that the HVDC cables used for our projects, such as the Tyrrhenian Link, are manufactured by only a small number of operators worldwide. This is why we aim to forge industrial partnerships with our strategic suppliers, establishing a national network to support our supply chain. For it is clear that managing this final piece of the puzzle is no longer merely a support function for investments, but a lever for ensuring the country’s energy security, meeting industrial targets and adhering to project timelines.

The completion of the works also depends on the ability to secure broad local support for your investments. How important is this aspect for Terna?

This is a very important factor for me. Over the past two months, I have been trying to ascertain whether there are any issues with the local areas in relation to the strategic projects. The ability to carry out the works within the required timeframe also depends on the quality of the relationships we have built. Engaging with local communities is not a final stage of the project but an integral part of the project itself. We are already initiating consultation processes during the preliminary stages, before the authorisation procedures begin.

Terna is often accused of charging end users too much on their bills. What is its response?

I prefer to let the figures speak for themselves, as they paint a completely different picture: the cost of transmission in Italia remains among the lowest in Europe. The unit cost of integrating 1 GW of renewable energy is 0.38 billion euros, compared with an average of 0.85 billion in Germany, France and the United Kingdom. When compared with the leading European TSOs, Terna therefore stands out for its high efficiency in planning investments to integrate new renewable generation into the national electricity system.

Let’s stay with Europe. Has the need to invest in and modernise the electricity grids become a matter of urgency for the Old Continent?

There is a European trend towards accelerating investment in electricity networks, and Terna will need to position itself within this trend. Germany invests over 20 billion euros a year and the United Kingdom around 12 billion. We remain at a much lower level. Across Europe, there is a growing realisation that the grid is the prerequisite for the energy and digital transition. Our responsibility is to ensure that Italia has the networks, technologies and industrial capacity to support the growth in electricity consumption, the electrification of the economy and the development of new strategic loads, including data centres and digital infrastructure.

When will you be presenting the new plan?

As we announced to the market during the conference call with analysts following the half-year results, the new plan will go hand in hand with the regulatory process.