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The Scenario of Renewable Energy Sources in Italy and the Effects of COVID-19

Document Cited authorities 3 Cited in Related
Vincent
Date01 August 2020
Published date01 August 2020
DOI10.3366/gels.2020.0028
Pages200-204
Introduction

In a recent speech, the President of the European Commission Ursula Von Der Leyen stated that the Green New Deal would be the milestone for the European economic recovery after COVID-191. The Green New Deal encompasses investments in renewable energy sources (RES) for the European decarbonisation by 2050, energy efficiency optimisation, electric cars, a green revolution of its own to make our cities and daily lives sustainable. The concept of normality and sustainability would never seem as out of place as it does today after a health crisis has hit the globe, gripping many countries with fear and resignation. Italy is one of these countries where the virus has hit with more intensity and speed, leaving no time and space for a timely and effective coping strategy. Now that the virus has loosened its grip on life. Italy is beginning to reckon with the impact the virus has had on the economy, especially the energy sector.. The Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (INECP) published by Italy in January 2020 following the European obligations, seems to have outlined the guidelines on energy transition that Italy aims to pursue in the general framework of European decarbonisation. The peculiarity of the INECP is that it inserts in black and white, decidedly ambitious plans without however adequately specifying the how and, if the ways of pursuing it were unclear after its publication, to date with a health crisis that has precipitated the Italian deficit, these objectives seem even further away. The topic of renewables addressed in the INECP seems to be of considerable interest, not only for the central role that renewable energies play in the energy transition but also for the goal that Italy has set itself to achieve a final consumption of energy from renewable sources equal to 30% by 2030. It will be interesting to briefly examine how this target will be hampered and inevitably postponed by the effects of COVID-19, which is precisely the subject matter of the present article.

 Italy and the European obligations pre Covid-19

The Directive (EU) 2018/20012 is undoubtedly aimed at spreading the culture of renewables and complying with the provisions of the 2015 Paris Agreement on reducing CO2 emissions. Today, article 3 of the Directive provides that the Member States shall collectively ensure that the share of energy from renewable sources in the Union's gross final consumption of energy in 2030 is at least 32%. To this end, the...

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