Italy business lobby asks for urgent measures to lower energy costs
MILAN, May 27 (Reuters) - Italian industries need lower energy costs in order to survive and compete effectively with European peers, the head the country's main business lobby Confindustria said on Tuesday.
"Our companies continue to suffer from an energy (price) surcharge of more than 35% over the European average, even reaching peaks of 80% when compared to the largest European countries," Emanuele Orsini said at Confindustria's annual meeting.
Orsini called for a change in the price mechanism for electricity, a cut in the general costs included in energy bills, fewer regulatory hurdles for renewables, and a return to nuclear energy.
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The Guardian
21 hours ago
- The Guardian
Tide is turning in Europe and beyond in favour of nuclear power
When millions of people across the Iberian peninsula were left without power last month the political fallout ignited debate over Europe's renewable energy agenda, and fuelled the rising interest in nuclear power. Europe's largest power blackout in decades, still largely unexplained, has raised questions about whether renewable energy can be relied on to provide a stable source of clean energy. It has also fuelled a renewed interest in the global nuclear power renaissance already under way. Despite long-held environmental concerns about nuclear power generation, political leaders across the globe are increasingly looking to lift restrictions on nuclear reactors or invest billions in new projects to keep pace with the fast-rising demand for low-carbon energy, which is expected to accelerate as AI datacentres grow. In Spain, the blackout has intensified an ongoing debate over the government's plans to phase out the country's remaining seven nuclear reactors by 2035. Support for the low-carbon energy source has re-emerged hand-in-hand with criticism of renewable energy, and its potential role in the outage. Spain's power grid relied on renewable energy for about 70% of its power at the time of the blackout, which experts believe may have made it more difficult for the energy system operator to keep the grid's frequency stable. The suggestion was vehemently denied by Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, in the country's parliament. Just hours after the blackout he said: 'There was no problem caused by an excess of renewable energy. Those who link this incident to the lack of nuclear energy are either lying or revealing their ignorance.' But even before the Iberian peninsula was plunged into chaos, critics of the government's anti-nuclear stance had raised their concerns. A few weeks before the blackout, the chair of the renewable energy company Iberdrola, which owns a small stake in the country's nuclear fleet, warned Spain against plans to shut all seven of its nuclear power plants by 2035. Ignacio Galán predicted that Spain could see its electricity prices jump by a quarter and get a less reliable system if Madrid followed the example of Germany, which began to close its nuclear reactors following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 and completed the phase-out in 2023. Days later Sama Bilbao y León, director-general of the World Nuclear Association, told a conference in Madrid that she was 'concerned about Spain's economic future without nuclear energy' because its economic progress would rely on 'abundant, clean, and affordable energy, available every day, all year round'. In Germany the hardline stance against nuclear power is already softening. Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who came to power in February, has criticised the previous government for shutting Germany's last three nuclear power stations in the midst of Europe's energy cost crisis and promised to explore whether it is possible to resurrect the plants. Merz is not expected to back a return to new conventional nuclear power projects in Germany but he has vowed to invest in new technologies: such as small modular reactors (SMRs) and nuclear fusion. The Swiss government has also said it will lift the country's ban on the construction of new nuclear power projects, which has been in place since 1 January 2018, to pursue SMR projects. The tide against nuclear power is turning in countries beyond Europe too. In Australia the new coalition government wasted little time in lifting the country's ban on nuclear generators with a promise to commit $36.4bn in equity for two projects that it says could be operating by the mid 2030s – and $118.2bn for the seven projects it has promised by 2050. Later this summer Taiwan is expected to vote on whether to restart a nuclear reactor which shut just last week amid concerns on the island about the rising electricity demand of some of the world's biggest chipmakers which are based there, and about energy security in the event of a military blockade by China. The concerns about a looming surge in power demand driven by tech giants and the desire for secure, homegrown low-carbon energy sources are common in countries across the globe. This trend is key to the renewed interest in nuclear power. In the US, the notorious Three Mile Island site in Pennsylvania will restart for the first time in five years after its owners struck a 20-year deal to power Microsoft's energy-hungry AI datacentres. Tech companies including Amazon, Meta and Apple are all expected to consume vast amounts of energy to power the boom in AI, and nuclear has emerged as an increasingly popular option given its steady stream of 24/7 power generation. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion US President Donald Trump, who has taken aim at the Biden administration's support for renewable energy, this month unveiled a series of executive orders aimed at delivering 10 large nuclear reactors by 2030, and quadrupling the country's nuclear energy capacity by 2050. The move was welcomed by nuclear proponents as a step towards helping to lower emissions in the US while supporting Big Tech. 'Several big tech companies looking for low carbon, round-the-clock energy signed contracts for new nuclear capacity in the last year, and there could be more such deals ahead,' predicted the US investment bank Goldman Sachs earlier this year. 'The proliferation of AI data centers has boosted investor confidence in future growth in electricity demand at the same time as big tech companies are looking for low-carbon reliable energy. This is leading to the de-mothballing of recently retired nuclear generators, as well as consideration for new larger-scale reactors,' it added. The growing demand for electricity may have piqued the interest of global government in nuclear power, but it is the breakthrough in new nuclear technologies which promises a new dawn for the industry. Whereas full-scale nuclear projects are notorious for spiralling budgets and delays, SMRs promise quicker, cheaper construction because the component parts can be built in a factory and assembled on site. But the technology has not been proven commercially. Last year Google became the first company to ink an agreement to purchase nuclear energy from small modular reactors (SMRs), which are being developed by Kairos Power in the US. Small modular reactors are also being pursued by the US, South Korea, China, Russia, and Canada. The latter approved the construction of the first mini-nuclear reactor in the West earlier this month which is expected to begin operating by 2029. In the UK, Keir Starmer unveiled plans for a historic expansion in nuclear power across England and Wales shortly after calling for tech companies to work alongside the government to build small modular reactors (SMRs) to power energy intensive AI datacentres across Britain. He said that he anticipated smaller reactors could begin operating in 2032 and become commonplace across Britain. The nuclear industry's detractors have played down the potential for SMRs to prove a gamechanger for nuclear energy. Dr Doug Parr, the chief scientist and a director at Greenpeace UK, said the Labour government had 'swallowed nuclear industry spin whole, which is courageous – or stupid – given that not a single one has been built, and with the nuclear industry's record of being over time and over budget unmatched by any other sector.' He added: 'As for the unsolved problem of nuclear waste management, government don't see the need to mention it at all.' Nuclear power has seen false dawns before, but the industry believes the next decade could hold the key to its renaissance.
The Guardian
a day ago
- The Guardian
‘La débâcle': Italian press turn on Inzaghi after Inter's night of misery
On the front pages of Italy's newspapers, the Champions League final was told as a 'nightmare', a 'humiliation', and a 'rout'. Tuttosport at least found room for humour with a 'DisIntergrated' pun. La Stampa, in deference to the victors Paris Saint-Germain, went instead with a French phrase: 'La débâcle'. Any team can lose a Champions League final but Internazionale were the first to do so by a five-goal margin. The final indignity of a season in which they aspired to repeat the treble they won under José Mourinho, only to come unstuck at the last: losing the Coppa Italia semi-final to neighbours Milan and then missing out on the Serie A title by one point. 'It could have been all or nothing,' acknowledged Franco Vanni in La Repubblica. 'It was nothing, in the most painful way possible. A sort of reverse perfection … a climax of suffering which is the photographic negative of the joys of 2010, year of the Inter treble and the last Italian joy [in this competition].' Everywhere there was acknowledgment of Paris Saint-Germain's quality and the astonishing job Luis Enrique has done in remaking this team according to his vision: young, dynamic, furiously competitive. But the focus, understandably, for Italian audiences was on how their own league's representatives could bow out so meekly. What had happened to the relentless mindset that allowed this team to score 11 times in four games against Barcelona and Bayern Munich? 'I'm sure no Inter lineup would have had a chance against this PSG,' said the veteran pundit Paolo Condò in a video blog for Il Corriere dello Sport. 'But even if you are slipping into the abyss, in a final you have a duty to try.' Simone Inzaghi was criticised for being outschemed by Luis Enrique and for failing to adapt after the game had begun. La Gazzetta Sportiva rated his performance as a 3/10 – even lower than the score they gave to the worst player, Federico Dimarco. '[Inzaghi] does not understand a thing of PSG's rotations and press,' ran the accompanying text. 'Almost embarrassing choices on the substitutions. Maybe he will remake himself in the Asian Champions League. Maybe.' Inzaghi is reported to have received a substantial contract offer to take over as manager of Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League, though he declined to talk about his future after the final. He had said repeatedly in the buildup to the game that he plans to meet with Inter's directors on Tuesday. This result, unquestionably, had changed the context of their discussions. 'And now, the cruelty of the question and of doubt,' wrote Maurizio Crosetti for La Repubblica. 'Is Simone Inzaghi the manager who took Inter within a step of winning it all, or is he the manager who in four years lost two scudetti badly and as many Champions League finals? 'If he had won this cup, maybe Inzaghi could have left more easily, like Mourinho after Madrid. And yet, after this, how can he stay?' Comparisons with the Special One were impossible to escape. As Leo Turrini put it in Quotidiano Sportivo, 'This season that made fans dream of a repeat of Mourinho's treble ended with the equally Mourinho-ian 'Zeru tituli'. There were some defences of Inzaghi, too, Alberto dalla Palma noting in Il Messaggero that Inter ought still to thank their manager for four years of highly competitive performances in the Champions League, relying on many players who joined on free transfers. Gazzetta reported Inter will close this season with their highest-ever revenues and expect to report a profit – some turnaround from the €246m losses they posted in the last season before Inzaghi took charge. But fans live for glory on the pitch, not the balance sheet. 'From yesterday, for Inter supporters, Munich in Bavaria is no longer the kingdom of the beloved Kalle Rummenigge nor the moor ridden by Nicolino Berti but a land of shame,' wrote Luigi Garlando in the pink paper. 'You should never use this word for sporting things, but when the fans experience embarrassment at such a bewildering, humiliating display, so much that they suffer just for their sense of belonging, there is no more appropriate term. A disgrace for Italian football, too.' 'A sporting massacre, a Korea, a Mineirazo,' he continued, referencing the most infamous World Cup defeats suffered by Italy and Germany. 'Thank goodness Inter played in yellow. The black-and-blue colours weren't soiled, but the club's glorious European history was.'
Telegraph
a day ago
- Telegraph
Ukraine's farmers could decide Poland's election
Karol Nawrocki, the Right-wing candidate in Poland's presidential elections, is having a rough campaign. Over the past few weeks, he has been accused of waging street wars as a football hooligan, consorting with neo-Nazis and setting up clients with prostitutes when he worked as a hotel security guard. It is a chequered past, which, you might think, would make most Polish conservatives blush. But if anything, the snowstorm of sleaze only seems to have deepened support for Mr Nawrocki, a nationalist historian, among his populist base. 'He's being attacked right now, but none of it is true, he is a good person,' Czesława, an 80-year-old vegetable farmer, told The Telegraph as she bagged up potatoes and onions at her market stall in northern Warsaw. The string of lurid scandals reported by Polish media, over which Mr Nawrocki has threatened legal action, will do no harm to Poland's reputation on the world stage, she insists. 'He will be great for everybody because he is a great person. He will be a good representative for Poland abroad and for Polish people, because he won't let the migrants in.' Voters are heading to the polls on June 1 to elect a new president who could seal the fate of their centrist coalition government. Rafał Trzaskowski, the liberal mayor of Warsaw and preferred candidate of prime minister Donald Tusk, is competing in a run-off against Mr Nawrocki, a Trump-esque eurosceptic conservative. While the role is largely ceremonial, Polish presidents can veto or delay legislation, meaning that a win for Mr Trzaskowski will allow the Tusk government to push ahead with liberal reforms on abortion laws and civil partnerships. But if Mr Nawrocki emerges as the victor, Mr Tusk will find it difficult, if not impossible, to deliver some of his flagship policies – and some experts say it could even bring down the government. Opinion polls show the two candidates to be neck-and-neck, with one recent survey putting Mr Trzaskowski in the lead at 47 per cent, just one percentage point in front of Mr Nawrocki. Poland's role in the EU has been a key issue, along with mass migration, and the economic track record of the Tusk-led coalition, with Mr Nawrocki warning that the government is ceding too much power to Brussels. The election is also being keenly fought over social issues, with Mr Trzaskowski vowing that a victory for his centrist Civic Platform party will allow it to liberalise Polish abortion laws, some of the toughest in Europe. And while there remains widespread public support for Kyiv, the humble Ukrainian farmer has become an unlikely bête noire (black mirror) in this election campaign. After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the European Union lifted trade restrictions on Ukrainian produce which – according to some Polish farmers – is now undercutting them. 'Poland is a great country, a self-sufficient country, and we don't need Ukrainian goods here,' says Czesława, who was drawn to Mr Nawrocki because he has vowed to adopt a tougher stance than Mr Tusk on Ukrainian farmers' access to the Polish market. 'We should be supporting our own goods and Ukrainians should export elsewhere.' Bogusław, 79, who is buying strawberries from another stall, chimes in as well. 'The people voting for Trzaskowski are so stupid, he's going to sell us out completely,' he says. 'Polish farming will be non-existent, he'll agree to anything. The EU will start importing [produce] from North African countries where everything is cheap.' Polish analysts say this election will be of 'crucial significance' for Poland, as it will hugely influence the tone and substance of the country's relationship with the European Union. 'If Nawrocki wins, there will be a more adversarial relationship with the EU,' said Jacek Kucharczyk, an expert at Poland's Institute of Public Affairs. 'He is more eurosceptic than his predecessor, Andrzej Duda, and has already made a number of statements basically questioning the sense of Polish membership. I think it would become much more difficult for the EU to manage Poland if he wins.' Aleks Szczerbiak, a Polish politics expert and professor at Sussex University, said that while Mr Nawrocki was firmly eurosceptic, he has not yet reached 'the point of wanting to leave the wants to defend national interests and look at alternative power structures.' 'He believes Poles have an overwhelming interest in weakening Russia and helping Ukraine to win the war, but also feels Poland needs to be more assertive in standing up for interests where this is a clash with Poland, like access to agricultural products,' he added. That eurosceptic, populist streak has caught the eye of the Trump Administration. This week, Kristi Noem, president Trump's homeland security secretary, endorsed Mr Nawrocki as 'the right leader' who will 'protect and defend' Poland. Standing in central Warsaw, and handing out leaflets endorsing Mr Nawrocki – who is backed by the right-wing Law and Justice party – campaigner Oliwia Kasztelewicz, 25, also cites concerns about the creeping powers of Brussels. 'Germany and France want to have full control over the European Union,' she says, and feels scornful towards the idea of Mr Tusk having a cosy relationship with other EU leaders. 'Our prime minister [Mr Tusk] is not their friend, he is more like someone who does what they want.' But other young voters feel that scandal-ridden Mr Nawrocki would be an appalling ambassador for Poland. 'The president needs to be someone who can represent us and not be involved in scandals,' says Gosia, 20. 'Abortion is also an important issue,' she adds, referring to draconian laws in Poland which forbid terminations even in cases involving fatal foetal defects. 'We want to see liberalisation of those laws.' Mr Tusk promised to pass his abortion reforms in his first 100 days during the 2023 election campaign, but they have still not materialised. This is partly because the outgoing Right-wing Law and Justice party president, Mr Duda, wielded a veto over them. But critics point out that Mr Tusk also lacked the required numbers in parliament to pass them. 'I'm not super interested in politics, but Nawrocki is too conservative for me,' says Nikola, 18. 'I will probably vote for the same person as my parents [for Trzaskowski].' Katarzyna Maciejewska, 40, is also weary of the constant stream of sleaze allegations appearing in Polish news articles. They include claims that Mr Nawrocki used to source prostitutes for guests at a luxury hotel where he worked as a security guard, which he strongly denies. Mr Nawrocki has also been accused of having links to gangsters and neo-Nazis, and taking part in organised street brawls in his youth as a football hooligan. He has not denied the football hooligan allegations and has suggested his links to far-Right extremists stem from his work as a history lecturer in prisons. 'I'm in shock, he is totally stained by these scandals,' Ms Maciejewska adds. 'I am voting more and more for pro-European parties. I was raised in Belarus, so the idea that my vote counts is kind of a pleasant surprise for me.' Inside the old Civic Platform offices of Mr Tusk himself, which now serve as the party's youth wing, a dozen activists have set up a war room where they are recording and publishing a digital campaign video every hour. 'I got involved because of women's rights,' says Stanisław Mikołajczuk, 21, taking a quick break from uploading the punchy videos to Instagram and Tiktok. 'In 2020 there was a change to abortion law that made abortion in Poland nearly impossible. We need a president who will sign it [the reforms].' With the two candidates neck-and-neck in the polls, his youthful team is braced for an extremely tense election night, with the results set to trickle in through the early hours and well into the next morning. 'We are seeing really uncertain times in Poland,' he says, before heading back into the recording room to make more campaign videos. 'The future of our country is at stake.'
