• The government unblocks work on the construction of six wind farms
• The plants in question are 6 installations across Puglia, Basilicata and Sardegna
• If renewable energy installations totalling 60 GW were unblocked between now and June, we could reduce dependence on gas by 20%

The war in Ukraine is forcing Italy to diversify its energy supply sources as quickly as possible. Renewable sources are the first step towards achieving independence from Russian gas, also in view of the necessary energy transition. The decision by the Council of Ministers that unblocked the construction of six wind farms can be seen in this light.

These are six installations that will be built across Puglia, Basilicata and Sardegna and will provide a combined capacity of 418 megawatts (MW). Specifically, four concern the province of Foggia (in the municipalities of Sauri, Cerignola and Orta Nuova, Sant'Agata and Troia), and to these are added the wind farm at Sassari and the one in the municipality of Tricarico, in the province of Matera.

How it may be possible to reduce imported gas by 20%

The applications for installation of photovoltaic and wind energy plants currently undergoing authorisation would today be sufficient to meet the clean energy needs of our country without having to rely on nuclear energy or natural gas.

This is why Elettricità futura, Confindustria's group of electricity companies, has asked the government and the regions to authorise, by June, 60 gigawatts of new installations from renewable sources, equivalent to one third of the connection applications already submitted to Terna, the company that manages electricity transmission networks in Italy.

According to Elettricità futura, 60 gigawatts of new renewable installations would save 15 billion cubic metres of gas every year — in other words, 20 per cent of imported gas — and would produce more than the six famous EPR nuclear power plants that France is looking to build.

18 installations and wind farms unblocked since the end of 2021

The wind farms unblocked by the latest Council of Ministers meeting are a step in this direction. Since the end of 2021, energy installations with a total capacity of 1.4 gigawatts from renewable sources have been given the green light. Among these are 18 projects comprising installations and wind farms, 10 of which are in Lazio alone.

There is therefore still a long way to go and many installations to unblock. In this regard, it is worth recalling that if just 50 per cent of the renewable energy projects currently on paper were to reach the end of their authorisation process, Italy would already have achieved the long-coveted transition.

The call to speed up bureaucratic processes comes not only from the industrial sector but also from environmental associations: "It is a decisive political choice: if only the government were willing, it could decide to fast-track authorisation procedures to the maximum and give the green light to renewables, instead of applying the same diligence with regulatory acts and exemptions to drill our seas or reopen coal-fired power stations," Greenpeace Italia explained in a statement. "Renewables, storage, pumped hydro, grids, savings and efficiency are the solutions capable of guaranteeing energy security, peace, reduced environmental and climate impacts, and even economic convenience."

According to the scenarios analysed by Greenpeace in the report Italia 1.5, it would be possible to reach 75 per cent of electricity production from renewables by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2040. "A further perspective can be offered by energy efficiency," concludes Greenpeace. "Every time we increase energy savings at European level by 1 per cent, we reduce Europe's fossil gas imports by 2.6 per cent." And that is no small thing.