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Italy grid warns of need for more power plants |
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| ITALY: May 15, 2002 | ||
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ROME - Italy, which saw an unexpected surge in electiricty demand last winter, could face power shortages if new generating plants are not built soon, the head of the national grid said.
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"Peak electricity consumption shot up to a new high last winter and new plants are needed to cope with the rising demand," Pier Luigi Parcu of the Gestore Rete Trasmissione Nazionale (GRTN) told a conference. "The GRTN has worries about production margins in Italy," Parcu told the Power 2002 conference, organised by WBR. "It is the role of the TSO (transmission system operator) to raise the alarm and talk soon when there is still time to solve the problem," he added. Electricity demand in Italy is growing at about three percent a year. But peak demand last winter rose to about 52,000 MW compared with 49,000 MW the previous year, leaving a margin of 2,700 MW of spare generating capacity. "We were suprised by this increase, it was bigger than we expected," he said, adding it was caused by an unusually cold winter. Although about 800 MW of capacity came onto the grid last year, Parcu said these plants could not yet be relied on as they were still being tested and problems ironed out. In an effort to cut red tape and speed the approval of new power stations, Italy recently passed a decree setting a time limit of six months authorisation. Since the decree came in, there have been 36 applications to build plants over 300 MW with a total capacity of 27,000 MW, said Parcu. In addition, companies have applied to build 538 much smaller renewable energy schemes totalling 18,900 MW.
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REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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