Gasoline prices are on a roller coaster. The market at the Amsterdam hub in the Netherlands saw slight declines and strong increases to EUR 126 per megawatt hour (MWh). In the face of unpredictable scenarios, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, the decisions of the Emergency and Natural Gas Supervision Committee are expected in a few hours. On the table is the assessment of the transition from the current pre-alarm to the alarm state. And even if the transition does not take place, the possibility of new measures is not excluded.
On the one hand, thanks to a law that came into force at the end of April and was contained in one of the Bollette decrees, the Minister for Ecological Transition Roberto Cingolani was able to decide independently on extraordinary interventions; which in any case goes beyond the plan (of 2019) and would therefore not require going into the state of alert to take more drastic measures. On the other hand, the economic situation is taken into account, in particular the development of gas prices, which, precisely because of their extreme volatility, could throw a beacon with foreseeable effects on Italy. Also because – so qualified government circles – at the moment “the situation is constantly monitored, but stable”.
Minister Cingolani’s reasoning then becomes concrete in the face of what is being recorded ‘now now’: it is believed that there is a ‘balanced’ approach to assessing what is happening; Of course, with the awareness that new interventions must be carried out “quickly, but not hastily”.
Therefore, all the already known measures remain in place, such as the use of coal for power plants, the increase in the national gas quota, regasification (and with it all the necessary infrastructure), the increase in renewable energies and energy efficiency and the whole game of diversifying energy sources too geographically with the implementation of contracts from other countries, such as with Algeria, which would have already exceeded the import quota from Russia), as well as the upcoming arrival of the EastMed pipeline.
A complex period that complements the path already mapped out by the European Commission. So much so that for Paolo Gallo, CEO of Italgas, the RePowerEU – the new plan proposed by the team led by Ursula von der Leyen – “with its targets both in terms of renewable gases and in terms of energy efficiency will have the effect of accelerating the transition; Perspectives that allow me to foresee a strong push on the road to decarbonization».