EC Initiates Court Case Against Italy Over Renewable Electricity Violations
November 24, 2009 // Published as a news service by IHS
EU member states are required by Directive 2001/77/EC to establish a system of guarantees of origin and to recognize those of other member states.
IHS Climate Change & Clean Energy Services Solar Photovoltaic Standards Wind Energy StandardsItaly has a "green certificate" regime whereby electricity suppliers are obliged to hold "green certificates" (proof of the renewable provenance) for a certain share of their electricity.
Suppliers importing electricity may be exempted from this obligation if they, instead, hold proof of the renewable provenance of electricity from other member states.
Several companies have complained that Italy refused to recognize guarantees of origin from France, Greece and Slovenia for renewable electricity produced in 2005.
Following an investigation, the EC found that the refusal to recognize these guarantees of origin for electricity produced in 2005 is unjustified. Therefore, Italy's action constitutes a breach of Article 5(4) of Directive 2001/77/EC.
According to Italy, those member states failed to completely implement the details of their guarantee of origin regime and, consequently, their guarantees of origin could not be treated as reliable. As a result, Italian importers of electricity could not use the guarantees of origin they had bought in 2005 and they needed to buy Italian green certificates instead.
The EC found that the Italian authorities failed to demonstrate that the other member states' guarantees of origin in 2005 were necessarily less reliable. As they were essentially equivalent to the earlier certification regimes that had been accepted by the Italian authorities up to 2005, the refusal to recognize the guarantees of origin did not appear to be justified.
Source: European Commission (EC).