Italy Prepares to Reduce Natural Gas Consumption If Russia Cuts Supplies

(Bloomberg) -- Italy is getting ready to reduce natural gas consumption if the tensions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine lead to a reduction in supplies.

Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s government on Monday adopted measures that will permit to increase supply or cut demand of gas if required, according to a statement. 

Power generated by gas-fired plants will be replaced by maximizing production from other sources, for example coal or fuel oil. The contribution to Italy’s energy mix of renewable sources will remain unchanged.

Last Friday, Draghi said that the country could reopen some shuttered coal plants to help bridge its looming energy supply gap and cut its dependence on Russia, which currently accounts for 45% of Italian gas supplies.

“Italy has no supply issues in the short term,” Ecological Transition Minister Roberto Cingolani said after a meeting of European Union energy chiefs in Brussels, according to news agency Ansa. “We have to think about refilling storages from next year, but we have a short, medium and long term strategy to end the dependency on Russian gas.”

The new measures come as Europe grapples with the risk of an escalation of the war in Ukraine which could reduce or halt gas supplies from Russia. Germany and Italy are among the European Union’s countries most dependent from Russian gas.

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