ROME (Reuters) – The Italian government on Tuesday unveiled a first set of measures to bolster the country’s natural gas storage capacity as energy firm Eni has seen a drop in deliveries from Russia for a week.
The Minister for the Ecological Transition, Roberto Cingolani, announced in a press release that Rome planned to buy coal in order to be able to run its coal-fired power plants at full capacity if necessary and save gas.
The Minister also asked the gas pipeline operator Snam to take measures to meet the target of filling gas stocks this month.
Italy, which imports about 40% of its gas needs from Russia, has undertaken, like other European countries, to diversify its sources of supply since the invasion of Ukraine.
Mario Draghi’s government is aiming for a filling rate of 90% of its gas stocks in November, in accordance with instructions from the European Union, against 55% on Tuesday and a target of 60% at the end of the month, according to a source aware of the file.
(Report by Giuseppe Fonte and Francesca Landini, French version Tangi Salaün)
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