Russia has cut gas supplies to Italy by a third. As the Italian hydrocarbons company Eni, 30% controlled by the State, assured on Tuesday, Gazprom has informed them that by this Monday it will supply gas volumes of around 21 million cubic meters per day, compared to the average of over 32 million cubic meters per day in recent days.
The announcement coincides with the interruption of the gas supply to Germany for “maintenance” through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, the gas pipeline that connects Russia and Germany through the Baltic Sea, a measure that will last until July 21. A small part of the Russian gas reaches Italy through the Nord Stream 1 but the vast majority passes through the TAG pipeline, which reaches Tarvisio, in the north of the country, passing through Ukraine.
The reduction follows many other cuts that Italy has already experienced since mid-June. The moment could not be more critical, in the midst of a heat wave and when the great drought that the country is going through is affecting the hydroelectric plants.
Italy is a country highly dependent on Russian gas, but Mario Draghi’s government has set to work to diversify its energy sources and, as recently reported, would have reduced its dependence on Moscow from 40% to 25% of its imports since the start of the war.
It has done this thanks to agreements with countries such as Azerbaijan and Algeria, which have slightly increased their shipments through the TAP and Transmed gas pipeline, and also by buying more gas from northern countries and strengthening the three available regasifiers. The TAP, the Trans-Adriatic that sends gas from the fields of Azerbaijan, is reaching its maximum capacity. They have also signed agreements with the Republic of the Congo, Qatar and Angola,
Italy is concentrating on taking advantage of the hot months to fill its deposits and that the winter will be less problematic than analysts predict. Draghi’s objective is to have the gas storage spaces at 90% of their capacity in November, and currently, according to what the gas company Snam said today, they are at 64%. To reach the objective, the Government has decided to encourage gas reserves through loans to companies in the sector with an investment of 4,000 million euros managed by the state-owned company Gestora de Servicios Energéticos.
“We are working to contribute to the creation of a reserve that is essential in the winter months by filling the tanks. Yesterday we reached 6,100 million cubic meters stored, which corresponds to 64% of the objective”, said today the CEO of Snam, Stefano Venier.
Rome is also preparing to increase the use of coal-fired power plants and has begun an energy austerity plan that prohibits, among other things, setting air conditioning below 25 degrees in public buildings.
