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I.A.E.A. - Country Nuclear Power Profile -
Italy Report
( 2002 Edition - It updates the country information, in general, to the
end of 2001)
(This is the fourth edition of the Country Nuclear Power Profiles)
Narrative overview of nuclear power development in Italy
1 - General
information
2 -
Electricity sector
3 -
Nuclear power situation
4 -
Nuclear power industry
5 -
Regulatory framework
2. Electricity sector
2.1. Structure of the Electricity Sector
In 1962, the electric sector was nationalized by Law 1643 of 6 December
1962. ENEL (Ente Nazionale per I'Energia Elettrica, Italian Electricity
Generating Board) was established to be wholly responsible for
electricity production and transmission, and partially responsible for
distribution of electric energy.
Starting from the early ‘90s, many changes have been developed in the
Italian electricity sector
and the consequences begin to appear.
By Decree No. 333 of 11 July 1992, the Government decided to privatize
some state-owned
industrial and commercial companies. The new companies issued shares for
a total value equal to the
net fixed assets given in the last balance sheet. The shares have been
allocated to the Treasury and the
revenue obtained by their sale will be used to reduce the national debt
and to balance the
Government’s books. Thus, in August 1992, ENEL became a joint-stock
company (ENEL S.p.A.)
with its shares in the hands of the Treasury. In November 1995 the law
setting up the Independent
regulatory Authority has been approved, and the Authority has been
operational since the beginning of
1997. In December 1995 The Ministry of Industry issued the new
concession to Enel SpA.
In March 1999, a legislative Decree (“Bersani” Decree) was issued, for
the restructuring and
liberalization of the Italian electricity sector: the purpose of the
Decree is both to reach a sufficiently
large liberalization and to guarantee such general economic interest as,
for instance, a universal
service, tariff equalization, the development of renewable sources.
According to the mentioned decree, Enel SpA begun a process of complete
reorganization. Enel
is now an holding, whose shares are for 68% property of the Ministry of
Economy and Finance
(former Ministry of Treasury). The balance of 32% is already on the
stock market. As for generation,
Enel has subdivided its generation capacity in a few companies, with the
perspective of reducing its
generation share in the Italian market accordingly to the European
directive. Companies Elettogen
(5720 MW) and Eurogen (7000 MW) have already been sold to private
operators and for Interpower
(2600 MW) the process is ongoing. Two other companies in the holding are
dedicated to distribution
(one company for the captive market and one for the free market), and
one owns the transmission
grid. Many others stock companies exist in Enel group for other business
such as engineering,
lighting, water management, and other for different industrial services.
2.2. Decision Making Process
New generation capacity will be built according to the licensing
procedure: producers wanting
to operate on the free market will apply for the authorization. In order
to encourage the use of
renewable sources, operators producing more than 100 GW·h/year (coming
from non renewable
sources) will be obliged as of 2001 to insert a quota of energy into the
grid produced with renewable
sources equal to 2% of the amount exceeding 100 GW·h.
From January 2003, no producer or operator will be allowed to generate
or import more than
50% of the total electric power generated and imported in Italy.
The management of the grid is assured by the Independent System Operator
(ISO): a joint stock
company, owned by the Ministry of Treasure and totally independent from
the electricity industry.
ISO has the task of dispatching energy and operating the national
network, that mainly consists of the
HV grid of Enel and HV lines of other operators.
2.3. Main Indicators
Italy’s total gross output capacity of electricity generating plants in
2000 amounted to 76.400
MW: thermal plants 56,700 MW, hydroelectric 20,600 MW, geothermal 631 MW
and 400 MW
renewable sources. Total gross electricity production in 2001
was 279.630 GW·h., including
wind and photovoltaic for about 0.8 TW·h. High voltage transmission
lines, connecting power plants
with the distribution system, are mainly based on 380 kV lines and 220
kV lines.
In 2000, the electricity demand on the national grid was 305.4 TW·h with
a per capita demand
of 5,154 kWh. In 2000, electricity’s share in gross domestic energy
demand was 35.4%.
2.4. Impact of Open Electricity Market in the Nuclear Sector
Nuclear is not an option at the moment in Italy: no impact of Open
electricity market in the
nuclear sector
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