ENTSOG Gas Regional Investment Plan (GRIP) 2017 - 2026 / Southern Corridor / Main Report

6.2.5.2 Underground storage in Italy

Italy already disposes of the larger underground storage capacity in the Southern Corridor region, with 10 operational depleted field storage facilities, located in the regions of Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto and Abruzzo. However new projects are considered to increase further more the supply security. Most of them concern the expansion or modernisation of existing facilities. The available storage capacity at the end of 2016 amounted to 16.5bcm; this amount includes 4.5bcm of strategic reserve – a value yearly defined by the Ministry of Economic Development (MiSE) – to mitigate gas shortage emergencies. Gas storage plays an important role in the Italian market, as it provides both the major source of flexibility, and increases security of supply in a market that is heavily dependent on imports. The need to develop storage capacity is highlighted in the Italian Energy Strategy (SEN), which indicated the need to increase the capacity margin of the system as well as increasing flexibility in gas supply to prevent emergency situations during peak demand conditions and/or supply interruption. Increases in storage capacity are expected because of the expansions of the existing storage facilities in Fiume Treste, Minerbio, Ripalta, Sabbioncello, Sergnano and Settala, but also through the commissioning of new sites under construction or authorisation: Bordolano, in Lombardy, developed by Stogit (first phase already commissioned in February 2016); San Potito and Cotignola, in Emilia-Romagna, owned by Edison Stoccaggio in the activation phase (already connected with the national network); Palazzo Moroni in Marche, on initiative of Edison Storage; Cornegliano in Lombardy, on the initiative of Ital Gas Storage. The list of projects in this category is the following:

LIST OF PROJECTS

Project

Code

Promoter

Bordolano Second phase

UGS-F-1045

Stogit

System Enhancements – Stogit – on-shore gas fields

UGS-F-260

Nuovi Sviluppi Edison Stoccaggio

UGS-N-235

Edison

Palazzo Moroni

UGS-N-237

Non-FID Advanced

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Southern Corridor GRIP 2017–2026