• Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni flies to Algiers to sign energy agreements with Algeria.
• Among the agreements, in which Eni and its Algerian counterpart Sonatrach took part, there is also mention of technologies to reduce emissions.
• The plan lacks concrete objectives and Meloni is forced to include projects she had previously spoken out against.

Italy is aiming to become an energy distribution hub for Europe. During Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's official visit to Algeria, several agreements were signed between Eni and its Algerian counterpart energy company, with the aim of, as newswire reports state, "reducing emissions, increasing gas exports to Italy and Europe and building a new pipeline for the transport of hydrogen as well."

"Algeria is our main gas supplier," said Meloni, reiterating her intention to implement a "Mattei Plan for Africa", inspired by the mission of the eponymous businessman who died in the 1960s. But while for Eni's current chief executive Claudio Descalzi Italy will reduce Russian gas supplies to zero by winter 2024–2025, on the sustainability front there is nothing new.

What the Italy-Algeria agreement entails

Giorgia Meloni's trip is part of a series of visits that heads of state from across Europe are making to North Africa in order to forge agreements in the energy sector, particularly on gas, following Russia's aggression against Ukraine, an event that has destabilised the energy market.

Specifically, five agreements were signed between Italy and Algeria: three concern the energy sector, as announced by Eni's press agency Agi, and form part of a memorandum between Eni and Algeria's Sonatrach, with the aim of "jointly identifying possible activities aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Algeria, and the best technologies to be used to achieve such a reduction, through a shared study on the reduction of gas flaring" — the practice of burning, without energy recovery, the excess natural gas extracted alongside oil, in cases where it is too costly to build adequate infrastructure to transport it to places of consumption.

In addition, a partnership between Confindustria and Algerian businesses and an agreement on space cooperation were also signed. The first is a collaboration agreement between Confindustria and the Algerian Council for Economic Renewal (Crea), with the aim of "strengthening the network of Italian companies in Algeria and Algerian companies in Italy", Agi reports again. The memorandum of understanding between the Italian Space Agency (Asi) and the Algerian Space Agency (Asal) on space exploration, meanwhile, concerns the use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies.

What the "Mattei Plan" actually is remains unclear

These agreements were described in very ambitious terms by Meloni, who spoke of a "Mattei Plan" with the aim of making Italy the gateway — an energy hub — for the whole of Europe. "We don't just want Algeria's gas for Italy. We want the gas destined for Europe to pass through us," were Meloni's words.

The details of the plan have not, however, been made public; they continue to be presented in vague terms and at the same time always revolve around the same mechanism: in exchange for gas, Italy pays Algeria either directly through cash transfers linked to the purchase of gas quotas, or by taking on a series of infrastructure investments (again linked to energy, but not only). In short, the "Mattei Plan", beyond a few newspaper headlines, currently has no concrete details whatsoever.

As the newspaper Il Foglio points out, Giorgia Meloni's current narrative "contradicts" a whole series of things she herself has declared over recent months and years. Should the elusive "Mattei Plan" ever see the light of day, "Meloni should be grateful that none of the things she advocated in terms of energy cooperation was ever implemented in the past," writes Il Foglio. In the past, a Plan envisaging Italy's use as an energy hub was technically impossible, at least for as long as Fratelli d'Italia — Giorgia Meloni's party — opposed the construction of the Sulmona gas pipeline in Abruzzo, which would have been capable of pushing gas from the Mediterranean northward through Europe via pipeline. In other words, the hub would have stopped halfway through the country: a bottleneck removed by the Draghi government with a dedicated decree.

ANSA 2030 @ansa_2030

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L'Algeria stanzia "più di 40 miliardi di dollari" per investimenti "nell'esplorazione di idrocarburi" per mantenere la produzione di gas "sopra i 110 miliardi di metri cubi all'anno".
Così il ministro dell'Energia e delle Miniere Arkab #ANSAAmbiente
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19 gen 2023 · Apri su X →

Drilling rigs, pipelines and regasification terminals: the issues Meloni didn't want

Then there is the question of drilling in the Adriatic: on this issue, the current prime minister has always been opposed, going so far as to campaign for a "yes" vote in the 2016 referendum, before announcing new concessions in November 2022.

On LNG (liquefied natural gas), "the short-circuit is even more surreal," Il Foglio continues, because the notorious "Mattei Plan" would also include the Piombino regasification terminal, opposed by the mayor of the Tuscan city — himself a member of Fratelli d'Italia — who recently filed an appeal with the Regional Administrative Court to obstruct the construction of the facility. Finally, the "Mattei Plan" would also make room for the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, the famous Tap: Meloni opposed it until 2016, when then prime minister Matteo Renzi was in favour. Then, in 2018, a change of heart: she came out in favour of the pipeline when the Movimento 5 Stelle, then in government, wanted to block it.

Everything and its opposite. To think that the only technology capable of reducing emissions is one we already have: we are talking about renewables, and there is no need for any agreements with unstable states aligned with Russia — which is precisely the case with Algeria. It would be enough to resolve the bottlenecks of the transition at a national level, and Italy would thus solve its energy supply problems with clean and fair sources.