Executive Summary
Clean Technologies Report Italy 2019
The Report at a glance
Italy’s main drivers for development and investment in the clean technologies sector are generated by the policies pursued by the European Union and by the national regulatory frameworks that derive from these. This Clean Technologies Report 2019 represents a first-level support for Canadian companies planning or considering to invest in projects or partnerships in Italy, in their own sectors. The Report is composed by an introduction about
clean technologies in Italy, and three parts about sustainable energy management, water system management and circular manufacturing. Each section offers an overview of the sectorial Italian background, followed by a robust facts&figures system, and by the analysis of key drivers, incentives, and other financial measures that may help Canadian decision-makers in addressing their investments in the Country.
Sustainable energy management
Italian National Energy Strategy (SEN) repre-
White Certificates
sents the main policy tool in the overall clean tech & energy sectors, and outlines the targets to be achieved by 2030: • reaching a 28% share of renewables in overall energy consumption by 2030, compared to 17.5 % in 2015; • 55% for renewable electricity by 2030, compared to 33.5% in 2015; • 30% for renewable thermal energy by 2030, compared to 19.2% in 2015; • 21% for renewables in transport by 2030, compared to 6.4% in 2015; • reducing final consumption (10 Mtoe/year in 2030); • accelerating the decarbonisation of the energy system; • increasing public resources for research and development of clean-energy technologies. The most important instruments for the promotion of energy efficiency currently in force in Italy are the following: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY REPORT ITALY 2019
This is the mandatory energy saving scheme imposed on electricity and natural gas distributors with over 50,000 customers. A total of 5,695 requests were submitted in 2017 and approximately 5.8 million credits were issued (580 million EUR, approximately 2 Mtoe of savings).
National Energy Efficiency Fund
The fund’s estimated budget at 31 December 2020 is 310 million EUR (185 million already committed). The fund aims at improving the energy efficiency of processes and services, including buildings where economic activity is carried out.
Thermal Account 2.0
a.k.a. Conto Termico, it promotes measures to increase energy efficiency and the production of thermal energy from renewables for small-scale plants, both for public
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Sustainable energy management
and private entities. The Thermal Account provides incentives ranging from 40% to 65% of incurred expenses.
The main incentive measures are: • total available resources amounting to 250 million EUR in incentives; • incentives for competitive electric renewables:
onshore wind, solar PV, hydroelectric, landfill gas and purification – plants that have been newly constructed or completely reconstructed and reactivated, with capacity of less than 1 MW; • incentives for plants that have undergone upgrading work, if the difference between the power capacity before and after the measure is equal to or less than 1 MW; • incentives for plants subject to reconstruction with power capacity equal to or less than 1 MW; • an “asbestos premium” provided for photovoltaic plants installed to replace roofs on rural buildings where eternit or asbestos has been removed completely: 12 EUR/MWh on all energy generated is added to the incentives on electricity, enabling not only incentives on the energy produced and fed into the grid, but also on the energy intended for self-consumption.
Looking at the European Community reference KPIs, Italy is found lacking on many indicators in water management, starting from the coverage of the service which still does not fully cover the whole territory. A systemic cause that complicates the organisation of the Integrated Water System (IWS) model is the lack of a central management body to provide guidelines and checks on management standards. At the end of 2015, approximately 4.8 billion cubic metres of water was supplied to the distribution networks in Italy with an average loss (from water added to water supplied) of 40.66%, but with peaks
of over 50% in Central and Southern Italy. The general inefficiencies in the national water network account for over 22% of the water that enters the system and is lost during distribution. There are around 5 times more faults on the Italian water network than in Europe and one of the main reasons for this is the scarce attention paid to maintenance. The energy cost of water in Italy with regard to the water mains is greater than the European average, while the sewerage cost is around 30% of the European cost. This is primarily due to the significant
Tax Deductions
Building redevelopment in the civil, residential and service sector is the main area where deductions are applied; they are in the form of cuts in personal income tax (IRPEF) and corporate income tax (IRES), only for deductions for the energy efficiency upgrading of buildings).
FER1 Decree
Water system management
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY REPORT ITALY 2019
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Water system management
Circular manufacturing
losses along the Italian water network (real or linked to untracked and/or illegal consumption) which translate into higher costs associated with pumping and water treatment. The costs per cubic metre in Italy range from 0.79 USD in Milan to 1.94 USD in Turin. These values are far removed from other European cities such as Brussels (5.12 USD), Amsterdam (7 USD) and Copenhagen (over 8 USD). The governmental Development and Cohesion Fund (government resources for measures in under-
utilised areas), which provides 37% of the resources, is the main financing instrument of the Italian IWS. EU resources make up 16% of the total and come from the European Regional Development Fund. Private individuals provide 11% of the funding, which comes from the operators’ co-financing share through the proceeds of the IWS tariff, while Regions/Provinces/ Municipalities allocate a further 11% of resources. At the end of 2015, 5,812 measures had been financed from public resources, but not yet completed, for a total amount of approximately 11.85 billion EUR.
Italy ranks first for circular economy performance among the 5 major European economies, outdoing United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain, in that order. Two factors have a positive influence: • light industry’s predisposition towards production generates favourable management compared to the economy in the rest of the Community; • the generally high immaterial value of goods produced in Italy reduces the environmental impact and increases eco-efficiency compared to the average reported in other countries
circular economy, turnover in eco-companies and the circular economy) ranks Italy in second place, after Germany, with values slightly above the European average. The eco-innovation activity index puts Italy in second place after Germany, with a value above the European average of 10 points. With regard to Community targets, Italy is now having to focus its efforts on: • concrete measures to stimulate re-use; • incentives for producers to place more sustainable products on the market; • achieving the goal of recycling 65% of urban waste by 2030 and 75% by 2035 (currently 42% in Italy); • recycling of packaging waste must reach 75% of the total by 2030; • landfill disposal must not exceed 10% of municipal waste produced; • promotion of economic instruments to discourage landfilling of waste.
The index on the total productivity of resources (materials, water, energy and CO2 emission intensity) shows Italy in first place compared to the 5 main European countries with an index of 180, well above the European average (100). The index on total socio-economic benefits (eco-business exports, employment in eco-companies and the EXECUTIVE SUMMARY REPORT ITALY 2019
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Issued by Trade Commissioner Service, Embassy of Canada in Italy Edited by EcoComunicazione.it This report has been prepared basing on primary and secondary sources of information. Readers should take note that the Government of Canada does not guarantee the accuracy of any of the information contained in this report, not does it necessarily endorse the organizations listed herein. Readers should independently verify the accuracy and reliability of the information.
Rome, 31st of March, 2019