In 2017, the Italian government announced, in its National Strategic Plan, that the phase-out, the exit from coal, would take place by 2025. Just days before the start of the war in Ukraine, however, Prime Minister Mario Draghi stated, in a briefing to the Chamber of Deputies, that "the reopening of coal-fired power plants might be necessary, to fill any immediate shortfalls", referring to gas supply, put at risk by the ongoing conflict.

But how many coal-fired power plants are there, and where are they, remaining in Italy since the phase-out announcement? Here they are:

• Portovesme, Sardinia, Enel, 480 MW
• Torrevaldaliga Nord, Lazio, Enel, 1,980 MW
• Porto Torres, Ep produzione, Enel, 600 MW
• La Spezia, Liguria, Enel, 682 MW
• Fusina, Veneto, Enel, 976 MW
• Monfalcone, Friuli Venezia Giulia, A2A, 336 MW
• Brindisi Nord, Puglia, A2A, 2,640 MW

Coal in Italy: the numbers

In Italy, we have gone from 12 coal-fired power plants in 2016 to the current 7, awaiting shutdown or conversion. Of the seven, five power plants are under Enel's ownership, while the other two belong to the Ep produzione group and the company A2a. They are spread across Sardinia, Lazio, Puglia, Liguria, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Veneto.

Italy has no coal deposits, with the exception of the Sardinian Sulcis Iglesiente basin, which was active until 2015. 90 per cent of the coal we burn arrives by sea from the United States, South Africa, Australia, Indonesia, Colombia, Canada, China, Russia and Venezuela.

Coal-fired Italy

The last power plant to be decommissioned was the one in La Spezia. The Eugenio Montale thermoelectric power plant, with a capacity of 682 megawatts (MW), was shut down two months ago, in December 2021. A partial closure — that is, of some generating units — affected the Andrea Palladio plant in the province of Venice, with a capacity of 976 MW, and the Federico II plant in Brindisi which, with an installed capacity of 2,640 MW, is considered one of the largest in Europe.

Then there are two power plants under Enel's ownership that are fully operational. In Civitavecchia, on an area of 975,000 square metres, stands the Torrevaldaliga Nord plant, with a capacity of 1,980 MW. In Sardinia, also under Enel, there is the Grazia Deledda plant in Portovesme, with a capacity of 480 MW. Sardinia also has a second plant currently in operation: the Fiume Santo facility near Porto Torres, owned by Ep produzione, with an installed capacity of 600 MW.

Finally, in Monfalcone, in the province of Gorizia, the A2a thermoelectric power plant produces 336 MW of electricity by burning coal. Overall, all the power plants just mentioned cover 4.9 per cent of Italy's energy needs.

The best source of energy is efficiency

In one of its reports, the environmental organisation Wwf shows that coal reserves will run out by 2070, bearing in mind that even if we continued to extract it until it was exhausted, the environmental impact would be devastating. The choice of coal is therefore a losing one, especially for a country like Italy that has no resources of its own.

Not to mention that the existing power plants are running at reduced capacity: this is because it is preferable to purchase energy from abroad (14 per cent of national demand), which is considered more cost-effective. Italy would do better to focus on a different energy model centred on saving, energy efficiency and renewable sources, starting from distributed generation in small plants increasingly fed by renewable energies connected to smart grids (smart grid) and integrated with effective storage systems.

Admittedly, the timeframe for the energy transition is becoming ever tighter, but returning to coal is a devastating step backwards for the environment and people's health. Climate change demands adaptation and damage mitigation measures: coal meets neither of these needs.