The projects of Snam and Società Gasdotti Italia to build the gas backbone in Sardinia will merge into a single strategic agreement. The project will be unique in consideration of the economic and environmental costs and will finally endow Sardinia with this infrastructure that has been talked about for years. The investment is approximately 600 million euros.
The two competitors had presented separate projects, but Liliana Panei of the Markets and Infrastructures Division for gas supply of the Ministry of Economic Development, announced a forthcoming agreement. So a step forward to proceed towards the construction of the pipeline. In June, Snam presented the environmental impact assessment with the aim of starting the works by 2019. The Gasdotti Italia company, in turn, had activated similar procedures.
The context in which the Sardinian backbone is placed is that of the Pact for Sardinia signed in 2016 by the governor Francesco Pigliaru and the then prime minister Matteo Renzi. In the chapter dedicated to the areas of strategic intervention, there are more than 400 km of pipeline of national value. When fully operational, the national pipeline network will benefit from it and this is also why Snam has never lowered its interest in
construction of the pipeline. A first section of 200 km on the island will connect Oristano–Cagliari–Sulcis. The others will come gradually. The work also enters fully into the new government energy strategy, despite some objections to the contrary from the environmentalist world. But natural gas in Sardinia will put the Region in the same conditions as the others that have used this fuel since the times of Enrico Mattei. There will be reductions in carbon dioxide and savings estimated at over 200 euros a year. On the procurement front, the new coastal depot of liquefied gas is also continuing. This is promoted by Higas - controlled by CPL Concordia and Gas and Heat - which will use six tanks in the vast industrial area of Santa Giusta not far from Oristano. Within the first half of 2019, the preparatory phase for the subsequent docking of the LNG carriers should be completed.
