Italy Needs To Construct More Than Four Nuclear Power Plants: Enel CEO

Published: 25-Aug-2009

Enel SpA's (Enel) Chief Executive, Fulvio Conti, said that the nation needs more than four nuclear plants in order to achieve the country’s target of producing 25% of its power from nuclear energy, Dow Jones reported. Enel and Electricite de France SA (EDF) are the companies planning to build four nuclear plants. Italy's first nuclear facility is expected to be online by 2020, Industry Minister Claudio Scajola said.

Earlier in July 2009, Enel and EDF finalized a deal, worth about EUR16 billion, to form a joint venture to develop nuclear power plants in Italy. They will study the feasibility of building at least four facilities.

Edison SpA, controlled by EDF and Italian municipal utility A2A SpA, said to participate in the country's nuclear renaissance and revealed its interest in the construction and management of the plants.

"We have taken note of the Enel-EDF agreement that leaves Edison, under certain aspects, in a kind of limbo," said Giuliano Zuccoli, head of A2A's management board, also at the Rimini meeting.

"In September, we will ask our partners what their plans are," Zuccoli told reporters Tuesday.

Earlier in 2008, the Italian government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said it would reverse a decades-old ban on nuclear facilities in the country and help reduce energy costs for companies and households. It also said that in the future it target to produce 25% of Italian electricity from nuclear power plants, 25% from renewables, and the remaining 50% from fossil fuels such as natural gas and coal.

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