«Italy has industrial, technological and design skills that allow it to be a protagonist in the development of offshore wind power. To seize this opportunity, however, it is necessary to accelerate decision-making times, guarantee investment certainty and build a stable regulatory framework, sustainable in the long term and consistent with sectoral objectives”.
This was said by the president of Anev Simone Togni on the occasion of the fourth Offshore Wind Summit promoted by Anev, the national wind energy association, dedicated to the development prospects of this technology in our country. «Only in this way – explained Togni – will it be possible to significantly contribute to the decarbonisation of the electricity system, strengthen national energy security and generate economic, employment and industrial benefits for the country. Today’s summit demonstrated how fundamental it is to continue the dialogue between institutions and stakeholders to transform these perspectives into concrete results.”
The initiative, explained Anev, represented an important opportunity for discussion between institutions, the academic world, companies, sector operators and environmental associations, with the aim of encouraging a constructive dialogue on the main challenges accompanying the development of offshore wind power in Italy, especially with floating technology, which at the moment remains at a standstill awaiting the Fer 2 auctions for incentives for new renewables.
As also explained by Alessandro Noce, general director of Energy Markets and Infrastructures of the Ministry of the Environment, who spoke of «a process of reviewing Ministerial Decree Fer 2, in order to verify its adequacy in light of the evolution of the market, the needs represented by the operators and the recent developments of the European regulatory framework. The objective is to identify solutions capable of combining the economic sustainability of investments with the protection of the public interest and the efficient use of resources intended to support renewable sources, while promoting the achievement of national energy and decarbonisation objectives. A specific dedicated working group was established and contributions and observations were collected from stakeholders, subsequently examined during a technical meeting. The considerations received are currently being analyzed by the ministry and will form the basis of subsequent assessments regarding the possible update of the support mechanism, with a view to guaranteeing an effective, stable and coherent regulatory framework with the country’s energy, environmental and industrial objectives”.
As emerged from the conference, offshore wind can also represent an industrial lever, with a supply chain to be built and concrete impacts on employment and companies.
