Italy unlikely to revamp nuclear power, should focus on solar growth – expert

LONDON (ICIS)–Any path towards a relaunch of nuclear power in Italy could be hardly pursued and the country should instead aim at boosting its renewable capacity – particularly solar power generation – Nicola Armaroli, research director at Italy’s National Research Council (CNR) told ICIS.

A recent ICIS analysis showed that Italy is very unlikely to return to nuclear power despite renewed political interest in the sector following the 2022 energy supply crisis, with the population’s historic anti-nuclear stance remaining a key obstacle.

Italy’s National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA) indicated that the development of Small or Medium Modular Nuclear reactors (SMRs) could be a possible alternative to full-scale nuclear power, with lower investment needed and which the population should be less averse to.

“Even if the SMR technology is being developed this is still far from a practical use and, above all, the regulatory framework is still missing,” Armaroli said.

One of the key advantage of SMRs is that they can be factory-assembled and transported as units for installation, without the need – and the risks – for a large infrastructure.

“Italy gave up on nuclear power 35 years ago and it has never implemented it intensively [Italy phased out its four nuclear reactors after a 1987 referendum], therefore it is difficult to imagine a relaunch of nuclear power and the SMR technology there,” the expert noted.

One of the main challenges for the development of SMRs in Italy, according to Armaroli, would be finding a location to up to dozens of small reactors, given the hydrogeological and seismic risks on most of the Italian territory. In addition to this, SMRs would have an intrinsic lower efficiency in dissipating hot temperatures compared to larger standard reactors, making their use less attractive.

According to Armaroli, the recurring interest for nuclear power in Italy, despite its low feasibility, could be partly explained by a “residual” aspiration towards the development of this technology in a small share of the academia and research sphere, with the political environment often revamping the idea of a return to nuclear power, mostly without any detailed plan in sight though.

Nevertheless, the expert conceded that research and an active involvement of state-owned companies in nuclear projects, especially on decommissioning, could remain a strategic benefit for the country.

SOLAR POWER RISE

An ICIS Analytics’ report showed that, according to the latest available data, around 1.2GW of aggregated solar and wind capacity have been installed in Italy in the first quarter of 2023.

This means yearly additions will have to reach 6.2GW/year of solar and 0.8GW/year of onshore wind to reach the 2030 targets.

“Photovoltaic (PV) solar power generation, including agrivoltaic , has a huge potential in Italy and can be easily installed thanks to higher scalability and lower public hostility compared to other technologies,” Armaroli said.

Nevertheless, Italy will need simpler and faster permission processes to install new solar capacity, the expert noted.

Still, the rise of renewable sources should also be complemented by changes in the demand profile and increased interconnection capacity with neighbouring countries.

“Europe will need to increase its interconnections capacity to fully benefit from higher solar capacity in southern countries during the summer season and, conversely, stronger wind power generation in northern Europe during winter,” he added.

STORAGE TECHNOLOGIES

The development of battery storage and pumped-hydro storage capacity will be pivotal in rebalancing the Italian power system amid higher intermittence from renewable sources.

“For a country like Italy we could expected a need for roughly 100GWh of electricity storage by 2030,” Armaroli said, noting that the development of lithium and sodium batteries would be pivotal in achieving that target.

Other innovative storage systems like CO2 batteries and sand batteries, which are still under early study, could also be developed to store energy at lower costs, he added.

The CNR’s research director added that the pumped-hydro generation fleet in Italy is currently underused and would need revamping to aid the balancing of the system.

Italy has 22.8GW of hydro capacity, mostly from water reservoirs and hydro-pumped storage systems, according to Terna’s data.

However, in 2023 to date Italy has generated on average only 3.9GW from these sources and 3.4GW in 2022, while the capacity is set to remain unchanged up to 2050 according to ICIS Analytics.