EU tells Italy to stop work on coal power plant

BRUSSELS – EU regulators asked Italy yesterday to stop work on a new coal-fired power plant in Sardinia that may be getting unfair state subsidies.

Italy wants to support the Sulcis plant it plans to build by paying an above-market price for some of its electricity and requiring it to sell the rest to local energy-intensive industries at a far cheaper rate. The European Commission said it was worried the plan would penalise existing electricity suppliers who would lose their biggest customers to the new plant.This would force them to cut power output because electricity cannot be exported off the island and it would prevent new power suppliers from entering the market.Both the Sulcis plant and energy-intensive industries would also be getting an unfair advantage over rivals paid for with public money, the EU warned.EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said regulators were prepared to use their powers to prevent the project going ahead until they had investigated the subsidies.Italy is heavily dependent on imported energy – mostly natural gas from north Africa – to generate electricity.Seeking more home grown alternatives, the government is now planning to restart a nuclear power programme that it abandoned after the 1986 Chernobyl atomic reactor disaster.Nampa-APThe European Commission said it was worried the plan would penalise existing electricity suppliers who would lose their biggest customers to the new plant.This would force them to cut power output because electricity cannot be exported off the island and it would prevent new power suppliers from entering the market.Both the Sulcis plant and energy-intensive industries would also be getting an unfair advantage over rivals paid for with public money, the EU warned.EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said regulators were prepared to use their powers to prevent the project going ahead until they had investigated the subsidies.Italy is heavily dependent on imported energy – mostly natural gas from north Africa – to generate electricity.Seeking more home grown alternatives, the government is now planning to restart a nuclear power programme that it abandoned after the 1986 Chernobyl atomic reactor disaster.Nampa-AP