Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced that Italy will use the European Union funds under the REPowerEU plan to get rid of Russian gas completely and become an energy hub for the EU.
The REPowerEU plan
The REPowerEU plan has a total budget of nearly 300 billion euros. It aims to end the EU’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels and combat the climate crisis. It includes approximately €225 billion of untapped loans made available under the NextGenerationEU pandemic stimulus package launched in 2021. The European Commission has also proposed to fund it with an additional €20 billion in subsidies from the sale of EU ETS allowances.
Cooperation with Africa
Meloni spoke of the need to cooperate with Africa on energy supply. Money from the RePowerEU program could also be used to build the SoutH2 corridor, a link to bring hydrogen produced in North Africa to Northern Europe.
Investments in the national network
In addition, the chief executive of Italian gas network operator Snam said the group would seek EU support to invest €2.5 billion to boost the capacity of the national network.
Italy’s right-wing government plans to complete discussions with Brussels on the use of EU funds proposed by Rome by the end of April.
