Terna: the first digital platform for requests to connect renewable energy plants to the electricity grid in Italy

Italy to install approximately 70 GW in new wind and photovoltaic capacity by 2030

TERNA: THE FIRST DIGITAL PLATFORM FOR REQUESTS TO

CONNECT RENEWABLE ENERGY PLANTS TO THE ELECTRICITY

GRID IN ITALY

The Econnextion dashboard is unique in its field and represents an important and innovative

consultation tool for all sector operators

The platform is structured into two areas with data and information on the geographic location and

authorisation status of green plants across the country

Rome, 27 February 2023 - Terna, the Italian transmission system operator, in collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security, has developed a digital platform that, for the first time, centralises all information on high-voltage connection requests from renewable plants in Italy. Designed by the company led by Stefano Donnarumma and the only system of its kind in the world, Econnextion will enable stakeholders and electricity sector operators to visualise information on the geographic location and authorisation status of new, onshore and offshore photovoltaic and wind initiatives across Italy. The data available the dashboard (https://www.terna.it/en/electric- system/grid/econnextion), which are updated every three months, are divided by source and shown in terms of output, and can be viewed by users as a graph or as a table.

"The new Econnextion digital platform, which we have developed using an innovative geopositioning system to locate requests to connect renewable plants to the national transmission grid, represents an important leap forward in the green evolution and will benefit all electricity sector operators. It is an effective tool for identifying trends and pinpointing the areas with the highest density of energy plants and, therefore, can facilitate the coordinated planning needed to develop all of the infrastructure necessary to achieve the ambitious international targets for the decarbonisation of the energy system in a coordinated way," declared Francesco Del Pizzo, Grid Development Strategies and Dispatching Manager at Terna.

"This initiative by Terna is very useful for transparency to effectively and efficiently managing the goals set by the challenges for the energy transition. Ambitious goals, which will provide enormous benefits for the country in terms of the environment, the economy and energy security and independence. It is crucial, however, that these decarbonisation goals are achieved efficiently, with the optimal use of resources. A coordinated development of grids, renewables and storage is therefore essential. The tool made available by Terna will provide useful elements both to institutional stakeholders and to sector operators for better investment planning" stated the Italian Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security.

Specifically, the "Connection Requests" section enables users to filter requests by source (solar, onshore wind, offshore wind) in an aggregated format (number, output and percentage distribution). Using the interactive map, it is possible to view details at a regional, provincial or municipal level, and, thanks to the search filters, to select all active requests in a certain municipality and their authorisation status, for example, and compare renewable energy plant initiatives in various provinces or regions based on the so-called "General Minimum Technical Solution" (GMTS) produced by Terna.

The "Fit for 55 Target" section shows the most significant data on photovoltaic and wind power initiatives (onshore and offshore) broken down by market area, with reference to the target set by the "Fit for 55" package for 2030, which envisages a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.

To meet the challenging European decarbonisation targets set out in the "Fit for 55" programme, approximately 70 GW of new renewable capacity will need to be installed in Italy by 2030, in particular wind and solar, in order to cover 65% of all electricity consumption with energy from clean sources. According to Terna's data, at the end of January 2023 requests for connection to the high-voltage grid from new renewable power plants reached 340 GW of cumulative power, of which 37% was from solar and 54% from wind power, around five times higher than the targets Italy has set itself for 2030. In confirmation of Terna's increasing commitment to provide and distribute quality data to all stakeholders, the Econnextion platform enables the constant and continuous monitoring of all these initiatives, and represents a key tool for the coordinated planning of electricity infrastructures, renewable energy sources and storage systems, and for planning new photovoltaic and wind power plants in the areas with the greatest potential for renewable energy, avoiding the phenomenon of virtual grid saturation.