TERNA (a subsidiary of the CDP Group) has inaugurated the new "Sorgente Rizziconi” power line, a record-beating power line joining Sicily to Calabria, mainland Italy, and therefore to Europe.
Roma, 28 May 2016
The ceremony was attended by the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, as well as the President of the Region of Calabria, Gerardo Mario Oliverio, and the CEO of Terna, Matteo Del Fante.
The project sets a record in Italy, at 105 km long and using the longest AC 380 kV submarine cable in the world – 38 km laid on the sea floor at depths reaching up to 376 metres. It will enable an increase in energy transport capacity up to 1,100 MW.
Italy is now connected from top to bottom in power terms, thanks to the “energy bridge over the Straits“ – a high-voltage line seamlessly connecting Sicily to the Valle d'Aosta, creating the conditions to remove the price differential between Sicily and the rest of the country.
The project will also allow better use of renewable energy generated in Sicily, especially wind and PV, totalling over 700 MW.
At the Scilla power station, the largest armoured structure of its kind in Europe has been built. The engineering solutions adopted here are also impressive: when landing the cable in Calabria – in order to eliminate the impact on the environment – it was necessary to build the world’s deepest vertical shaft (extending almost 300 metres into the mountainside) and its longest horizontal tunnel (2.8 km) for EHV cables.
The new infrastructure built by TERNA – an all-Italian accomplishment – is a strategic asset for Calabria and Sicily, but more generally for Italy because it enables more efficient use of production facilities in southern Italy, by increasing competition and thus leading to lower energy prices, benefiting Italian businesses and citizens.
“Today I am particularly proud to launch, alongside the highest office of government and all of you, a unique work of infrastructure, among the most innovative and technologically advanced, in which we have adopted extraordinary engineering solutions – the result of Italian excellence” Terna CEO Matteo Del Fante declared.
The project confirms the CDP Group’s role as National Promotion Institution, contributing to the infrastructural development of the country, stimulating new projects and facilitating the modernisation of existing infrastructure.