Italian transmission system operator (TSO) Terna has announced an investment of more than €21bn in the country’s transmission grid over the next 10 years.
The investment has been announced as part of the company’s 2023 national transmission grid development plan, which aims to boost the environmental sustainability of the Italian electricity system. It also aims to expedite energy transition and promote decarbonisation across the country.
According to Terna, the overall investments will exceed €30bn while taking into account the entire lifespan of the projects beyond the development plan’s ten-year frame.
As part of the investment, the Italian TSO is planning to build the Hypergrid network, which is a project that involves overhead and undersea high voltage direct current (HVDC) connections that will cover most of the regions in Italy.
The Hypergrid network features five backbones, namely HVDC Milan-Montalto, Central Link, Sardinian backbone, the Ionian-Tyrrhenian backbone, and the Adriatic backbone. The five backbones have been allocated an investment of around €2.7bn, €300m, €1.4bn, €4.1bn, and €2.4bn respectively.
With the Hypergrid network, the transmission system operator expects to increase the exchange capacity between market zones from the existing 16GW to more than 30GW.
The projects involved in the company’s new development plan are expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 12,000 kilotonnes per year by 2040.
Other main projects in Terna’s 2023 development plan include the 84km long Colunga-Calenzano, the 170km long Chiaramonte Gulfi-Ciminna, and the 60km long Paternò-Pantano-Priolo power lines, which will each have a capacity of 380kV. The transmission projects involve an investment of €250m, €480m, and €325m, respectively.
Terna also plans to bolster and develop cross-border interconnections, with a total capital expenditure of about €2bn.
Terna CEO Stefano Donnarumm said: “The investments included in the 2023 Development Plan are Terna’s highest ever and will have a decisive enabling effect on the energy transition and the achievement of the targets adopted by Europe and Italy.
“In today’s particularly challenging context, long-term planning has never been so important, a coordinated effort between institutions that enables Italy to seize all the opportunities that the transition brings with it.
“Renewable sources are our oil: enabling their distribution and integration is part of our mission as directors of the electricity system and will be a determining factor in ensuring Italy’s energy security.”
