Brussels makes 551.2 million euros advance payments to Italy for REPowerEu goals

Brussels – Brussels approved 551.2 million euros in advance financing to Italy to support the goals of REPowerEu, the plan for energy independence launched in May 2022.  The announcement came in a statement from the European Commission, which also disbursed pre-financing resources to Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Romania, and Spain.

These payments, Brussels explains, will help accelerate the implementation of key investment and reform measures outlined in the Energy Independence Plan designed to free the European Union from energy dependence on Russia. The pre-financing payments, made in one or two stages, represent up to 20 percent of the additional funds required to finance the REPowerEU chapter.

The chapter is ‘added’ to the national recovery and resilience plan, the NRRP, which now includes five reforms, five “at scale” investments based on existing measures, and 12 investments to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, in line with one of the REPowerEU goals. Italy’s REPowerEU grants allocation amounts to 2.75 million euros to finance the energy targets. In
addition, Italy has decided to repurpose 8.4 billion euros from the plan
towards investments that pursue energy independence goals. The total REpowerEU envelope, therefore, amounts to just over 11 billion euros.

In its supplementary chapter, Italy included reforms to streamline permitting for renewable energy deployment, reduce environmentally harmful subsidies, facilitate biomethane production, and intensify the provision and adoption of skills needed for the green transition. These reforms are complemented by new or enhanced investments compared to the original plan to increase the efficiency, reliability, and safety of the electricity grid, increase hydrogen production, address energy poverty, facilitate the recovery and recycling of critical raw materials, and strengthen railways and the zero-emission bus fleet.

More good news regarding the NRRP, as the European Commission has today
disbursed an advance payment of approximately 551 million euros for the
grant relating to the new REPowerEU chapter, which was included as part
of the Plan’s revision….

– Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) January 25, 2024

Premier Giorgia Meloni on X (formerly Twitter) said: ““More good news regarding the NRRP, as the European Commission has today
disbursed an advance payment of approximately 551 million euros for the
grant relating to the new REPowerEU chapter, which was included as part
of the Plan’s revision. We consider today’s payment to be another important step forward in the
implementation of the NRRP, which the Government is carrying out
effectively and with determination.”

European Affairs, the South, Cohesion Policies Minister and for the NRRP, Raffaele Fitto, added that about 102,5 billion arrived in Italy from the NRRP, including today’s advance on the REPowerEU which kicks off a new path, strongly desired by the government, related to the implementation of the fundamental measures in favor of energy saving and clean energy production.”