| Grid Development and system emissions |
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The building of new electricity lines and stations provided by the 2011 Development Plan will produce positive effects in terms of emission reduction by the electricity system. Given the time horizon 2011-2020, the emissions of CO2 might decrease by about nine million tons/year.
The effects can be grouped into three categories:
Grid losses depend principally by the
length of the journey covered by electricity on the transmission grid. Given the same consumption, the farther the
withdrawal point from the National Electricity Transmission Grid is to the
input point,
where the energy is produced, the greater the losses. Furthermore, at the same given route, the losses are greater on a lower voltage power line.
This means that by taking action on the grid it is possible to reduce the losses, in particular through:
- Building new electricity lines and stations that reduce the distance between the withdrawal and consumption points;
- Strengthening a portion of the grid.
With the full implementation of the measures anticipated in the 2011 Development Plan , the reduction in transmission losses in peak periods could reach a power value of 200 MW, corresponding to a loss of grid energy estimated in about 1,200 GWh/year. Assuming that the reduction of these losses is equivalent to a reduced production by fuel sources, a reduction of CO2 emissions ranging from 500,000 and 600,000 tons per year can be estimated.
Among Terna’s main reasons for developing the electricity transmission grid was the
overcoming of transfer limitations among “electricity areas”. The existence of these limitations:
- Reduces the production capacity of the most efficient and less polluting generation units;
- For grid security reasons, obliges the production from old and scarcely efficient plants.
The measures provided by the 2011 Development Plan, together with the strengthening of interconnections with other countries, would make possible a more efficient production mix compared to the present one, with greater production by plants with higher yields. This same final consumption would be thus satisfied with a lesser quantity of fuel: the benefits would amount to 3,700,000 tons per year less of CO2 emissions.
Terna’s principal contribution to the
reduction of CO2 emissions is due to the connections to
renewable energy production plants.
In 2010, the following plants entered into operation:
- Wind power plants for a total new installed capacity of about 950 MW;
- Photovoltaic plants for about 1,520 MW.
One of Terna’s most important tasks is to schedule the strengthening of the National Electricity Transmission Grid to favor the production of electricity by renewable sources. Therefore, any grid and operational restrictions that might affect energy input into the grid, that has priority dispatching, should be overcome.
To this effect, all of the works provided by Terna in the 2011 Development Plan will free a wind power capacity of about 4,700 MW resulting in an annual reduction of CO2 emissions of about 5,000,000 tons.