The watchword is “together.” Speaking at the panel discussion entitled “The new world of energy,” which was organized on June 3 as part of the Trento Festival of Economics, Enel’s CEO Francesco Starace stressed on several occasions the importance of acting together to reduce gas dependence and achieve energy self-sufficiency also with respect to other countries. According to the CEO, today it is more necessary than ever for the states of the European Union to act together, fostering the transition to a new model of electricity consumption. Just think of domestic uses: if we trigger the push not to use gas-generated electricity for cooking or heating and focus instead on photovoltaic panel systems and heat pumps, countries like Italy could achieve energy independence within four years.
A model that works because is more convenient from an economic point of view, as CEO Francesco Starace explained to the journalist Paolo Mieli: “Operators have understood this, and the novelty of this new energy crisis is that society is understanding it too. If you install photovoltaic panels on your roof and discover that the electricity bill is halved, then you will never go back.” Therefore, according to the CEO, in the next four years “there will be an acceleration in investments in technologies that will replace the use of gas in electricity generation” for domestic consumption and heating. Furthermore, “there will be a massive investment in renewables, heat pumps, electricity grids that have to support this revolution, and a progressive electrification of some sectors of electricity consumption.”
“We will see an ever-greater electrification of consumption: a transformation that could reduce the country’s dependence on gas”
Francesco Starace, Enel CEO
Another measure indicated by Enel’s CEO also concerns the diversification of gas supply sources: importing gas by pipeline from multiple countries, which costs less, and increasing the use of liquefied gas, which costs more but allows for greater negotiating power with respect to the countries that deliver gas by pipelines. This too implies a shared commitment on the part of EU countries: the impact of the current energy crisis actually affects “the entire European economy because European economies are closely interconnected through energy.” According to Francesco Starace, it is therefore essential that European states walk hand in hand and face this process together: “it is not only feasible but necessary.”
Enel editorial staff