The HV Sorgente-Rizziconi power line presented in Messina that connects Sicily and Calabria through the longest AC submarine cable in the world. The most technological electricity infrastructure ever built in Italy.
Terna presented its "Energy Bridge" between Sicily and Calabria at the Palacultura in Messina, before the Minister of the Environment, Stefania Prestigiacomo and with the reports by Terna’s Chairman, Luigi Roth, and CEO, Flavio Cattaneo: the“Sorgente-Rizziconi”, the new electricity connection which is unique in the world whose building activity just began.
The project, for which Terna expects and investment of over 700 million euros, has a capacity of 2,000 megawatt and a total length of 105 km, 38 of which in submarine cable under the Strait of Messina: a world record in length for an AC cable.
Once completed, the "Sorgente-Rizziconi" will create significant benefits for the Italian electricity system, mainly at the economic level: the difference in price that presently exists between Sicily and the mainland will no longer be applied, which yearly determines greater costs in the bills for 800 million euros.
Furthermore, the project will significantly improve the safety of Sicily’s and Calabria’s electricity supply and will allow using nearly 700 MW from renewable sources, that are strongly being developed, rendering the management of flows from the plants in Southern Italy more efficient.