Page 42 - Industrial Plants

DECARBONIZATION TARGETS

COP 15 (the 15th session of the Conference of the Parties, the decision-making body of the UN Framework Convention
on Climate Change), held in Copenhagen in December 2009, was definitely a seminal moment in the fight against climate
change. The Conference outcome document, called the Copenhagen Accord, includes several key statements in the path
to fight climate change:
• it acknowledges climate change as one of the greatest challenges of our time;
• it supports the scientific view that the increase in global temperature should not exceed 2° C above pre-industrial level;
• it recognizes that deep cuts in global emissions are required.
The Copenhagen Accord resulted in emission reduction pledges to the year 2020 by countries covering more than 80% of
global emissions. Those pledges were, however, not binding.
Six years later the world upped the ante at COP 21 in Paris, by producing the Paris Agreement which was signed off by 195
countries and the EU. The Paris Agreement confirms the 2° C maximum temperature increase target, but also promotes
efforts to limit the increase to 1.5° C. Though not introducing an enforcement mechanism for individual countries targets, it
sets up procedures for signatories to adopt ever ambitious GHG reductions over the years and regularly report on progress.
The US made news when President Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement in 2020, only for President Biden to re-join in
February 2021.
Notwithstanding the Trump administration stance on the Paris Agreement, and climate change in general, with climate-
sceptic in chief tweeting more often than not about climate change being a hoax, the US did not stand still in terms of
moving on a path to decarbonization.
Bereft of a de facto emission reduction target at federal level, several US states took the initiative and set emission and
renewables standards. Some of them today can boast very large renewables installations, Texas alone has almost 30 GW
of wind and solar capacity.
On the other side of the ocean, Europe was a forerunner in setting decarbonization targets. Its Emissions Trading System
(EU ETS) was launched in 2005 to limit carbon emissions by the power sector through ‘cap and trade’ of emission
allowances. The EU ETS has since then been revamped several times, to include more sectors and address claims it was
not effective in meeting its goals. Recently, the EU carbon allowance price has been steadily climbing, testimony to the fact
that the ETS has gone through its initial learning phase and improved its effectiveness.
At the same time, Europe’s carbon emissions reduction strategy has consistently been growing more ambitious and
encompassing.
In 2008 the EU adopted the Clean Energy Package, which led to the 20-20-20 targets: a 20% reduction in carbon
emissions, a 20% increase in energy efficiency and a 20% share of renewable sources in energy consumption (including
power, heat and transport) by 2020.
In 2019 the European Green Deal was introduced, with the overarching goal of making Europe the first climate neutral bloc
by 2050. The plan sets an intermediate emission reduction target of 55% by 2030 (vs. 40% for the Clean Energy Package),
and follows an encompassing approach, by extending policy areas in its remit to the circular economy, biodiversity and
“farm to fork” among others.

supported – worries. Please see the “HVDC terminal HVDC link. As a matter of fact, Terna set more
advantages” box for details. than one world record in the submarine cables domain
Terna has a long track record in design, construction (see Figure 3). In 2011 power started flowing between
and operation of submarine power cables, dating back Sardinia and the Italian mainland through SAPEI, a
Italy-Montenegro to 1967 when the SACOI cable, connecting Tuscany to HVDC submarine cable reaching 1.640 meters of
HVDC link - Cepagatti Sardinia via Corsica, entered operation; in 1987 SACOI depth, the deepest ever achieved and yet not outdone.
converter station was then revamped to become the world’s first tri- The Sorgente-Rizziconi link, the ‘underwater Messina
bridge’ connecting Sicily to Calabria starting from 2016,
is the world longest HVAC link. More recently, Terna
completed in 2019 the Italy-Montenegro HVDC
submarine cable, with other international HVDC links
currently in the works (Figure 3).

Precisely for this reason, Terna’s 2021-2025 Business
Plan provides for investments of € 8.9 billion (+ 22%
compared to the previous plan) to manage the energy
transition and ensure the integration of renewables. The
company has earmarked 1.2 billion euros for
investments aimed at grid reliability and projects
improving the dynamic stability of the electricity system,
in line with the guidelines that emerged from the Paris
Agreement targets. The 21-25 Plan provides for
targeted interventions and innovative solutions aimed at

IndustrIal Plants - September 2021
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