Energy: further special terms for the support of renewable sources
Milan, January 12, 2009
New special terms have been announced for the support of the production by small plants (up to 1 MW power) of power from renewable sources. The Authority has introduced the fixed all-inclusive tariff, a new simplified system for the power produced and input to the grid which envisages a single fixed price, and it has appointed the GSE (the Electricity Service Operator) as the national body to discuss the agreements.
Italian versionThe fixed all-inclusive tariff, which will include both the market compensatory components and the actual incentives, will be guaranteed by the GSE, and no longer by different territorial distributors. Producers will close agreements with the GSE for the withdrawal of the power input to the grid following standardized procedures for the entire national electricity system, based on technical specifications verified by the Authority. This tariff will not be applied to photovoltaic systems, which already enjoy other incentive systems.
The Authority has also extended the possibility of adhering to the on-the-spot trading(*) mechanism to plants of a power of up to 200 kW which began valid after 31 December 2007, to which will be applied the rules already in effect from 1 January 2009 for plants from renewable sources of a power of up to 20 kW. The regulatory framework envisaged by Laws no. 222/07 and no. 244/07 and implemented by the Interministerial Decree of 18 December 2008 will thus be completed.
The Authority will carry on guaranteeing users of the electricity system the right amount of charges and the proper access of producers to the incentive system, considering that this incentive system determines a cost for consumers, also through a programme of widespread checks on systems and plants.
(*) The on-the-spot trading service consists of the creation of a particular form of self-consumption in situ, permitting the power produced and input to the grid to be withdrawn and consumed at a different time from when it is produced, thus using the electricity system as a tool for the virtual storage of the power produced, but not consumed at the same moment. An essential condition for the supply of the on-the-spot trading service is the presence of plants for power consumption and production sharing a single connection point with the public grid. In general, on-the-spot trading translates into a real incentive, because it entails simplifications and lower costs for its participants. It is as if the electricity input to the grid and later withdrawn again were produced and self-consumed instantaneously without using the grid.
(The version published here is an abstract of the Italian language press release.)