Italian cities are beginning to ration energy by cutting electricity and gas consumption. Italy has to adapt to the new European regulation that came into force to reduce consumption at a time when supplies have changed due to the cuts in the supply of gas from Russia after the start of the war in Ukraine. Overall, the EU should save around 45 billion cubic meters of gas. Italy needs to save around 8 billion cubic meters between August 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023, which is around 7 percent of the average consumption in the same period of the last 5 years. The government has not yet developed a real plan, but it has made a number of statements that show how consumption can be reduced in winter. Meanwhile, gas supplies to Italy are changing while inflows from Russia continue to decline. Where does gas come from in Italy today and who are our country’s new energy partners?
New flows, old gas
Italy follows a policy of emancipation from Russian gas and replaces missing supplies with imports from other countries. Thanks to the agreements made over the past few months, the new energy partners will try to replace the necessary amount of gas. But it is already becoming apparent that supplies will not be sufficient, at least in the short term. The government is aiming to reach at least 80 percent storage capacity by November: to date, according to Agsi data consulted by Today, we are at 76.7 percent, broadly in line with forecasts. However, it is difficult to estimate gas consumption in relation to autumn and winter, the time of year when gas is used most. It should also be borne in mind that electricity generation in Italy is over 40 percent dependent on gas. But where does the gas come from?
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In 2021, before the war in Ukraine, Italy imported gas mainly from Russia. According to Today, 72.7 billion cubic meters of gas were imported in 2021, of which 40 percent came from Russia, 29 percent from Algeria, 10 percent from Azerbaijan, 4 percent from Libya and 3 percent from northern Europe. 13.5 percent came from LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas). In general, the European Union was heavily dependent on Russia in 2021, with gas imports reaching 45 percent of the total, or about 140 billion cubic meters per year.
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After the start of the war in Ukraine, Italy allied with the rest of Europe to emancipate itself from Russian gas and gradually reduce its dependence. If gas imported from Russia accounted for 40 percent of the total in 2021, new deals the Italian government has reached with Algeria, Egypt, the Republic of Congo and Angola, along with Russian supply cuts, have reduced that percentage by 2022. These Data will be updated in June and provided by the Ministry of Ecological Transition, so the percentage of imported Russian gas will continue to decrease in the coming months. In addition, Italy is focusing on liquefied natural gas (LNG), importing it mainly from Qatar, Algeria and the United States.
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Ecological Transition, analyzed by Today, Algeria will replace Russia in gas supplies to Italy in the period from January to June 2022. Of the 37.7 billion cubic meters of imported gas, gas coming from Algeria accounts for 30.5 percent of the total. Russia follows with 24.6 percent, followed by Norway and the Netherlands with 10 percent. Compared to the same period last year, the decline in Russian gas is immediate: in the first half of 2022, Italy imported 36.4 percent less gas from Russia, about 5.3 billion cubic meters. In the short term, however, new deliveries may not be sufficient.
What is being done in Italian cities to reduce consumption
To reduce consumption of electricity and gas, we act by limiting demand through a series of measures currently being imposed by municipalities pending a national plan. Among the capitals that have already moved on this front is Turin, which has already opted to reduce the intensity of public lighting and leave timetables unchanged. However, in view of the fall and the restart of the heating systems, the Ministry of the Environment then asked the city distributor Iren to lower the temperature in public offices by two degrees.
At the moment in Milan there are strong recommendations but no decree from Mayor Beppe Sala, who asked shops in the city to keep their doors closed even if they are equipped with the so-called “Air Blades”, the devices that allow a To create some kind of barrier to entry between the internal and external environment. It also recommended not going below 26 degrees in offices, homes and shops and urged public employees to turn off lights at the end of the day.
In Florence, the administration’s tips led to the publication of a real ordinance. From August 1, 2022, keeping the door open in air-conditioned shops and establishments is prohibited: you risk a fine of between 25 and 500 euros. The municipality has also made some recommendations: a request to “iron only what is necessary”, to only run the washing machine at full loads and to keep the radiators at 18-19 degrees.
In Genoa, the city administration has launched energy saving measures “on two fronts”, according to Deputy Mayor Pietro Piciocchi, who is also in charge of the budget. “On the one hand we’re trying to renegotiate our contract with the manager. Then” there’s a whole component of good practice, starting with the use of air conditioning and lighting, following guidelines in that sense The Government: “As far as outdoor lighting is concerned ,” we have not foreseen any changes, no reductions: this is because all the systems are modern and with very low consumption. Even the lighting of the monuments has not been changed and we do not intend to do an early shutdown, at least for the moment.
Work is underway in Bari on several fronts, from replacing old streetlights with new LED systems to remote management for the control of school heating systems, providing the ‘health status’ of the system and providing significant savings in administrative costs. The Municipality of Ancona, on the other hand, limits spending on public lighting by turning off streetlights one hour and 20 minutes before sunrise (until today it has turned them off just 20 minutes earlier). Finally, in Belluno, from 2:30 a.m. to 5 a.m., the lights went out on the city’s 6,800 street lamps.