On 16 March, the Ministry of Economic Development (MISE), in conjunction with the Ministry of the Environment (MATTM), granted permission to ITW-LKW Geotermia to search for geothermal resources for the pilot plant at Castel Giorgio.

It is the long-expected and almost inevitable step following the Council of Ministers’ decision of 31 July 2019, which overruled the objections of the Umbria region, and gave consent for the continuation of the approval process for the above project.

On 31 March ITW-LKW presented a certified notice of commencement of works (SCIA) to the municipality of Castel Giorgio, indicating a start date of 1 April.

How will the project proceed? What will happen?

The municipality will examine the SCIA and may ask for additional information and clarification.

As expected, lawyers for the opponents of the project, who have presented four appeals against the resolution of the Council, will request the work permit be suspended until the Administrative Court of Lazio (TAR) has issued a judgment regarding these appeals.

If the TAR grants this suspension, work can not start unless the company obtains a favourable counter-ruling. Even if the suspension is not granted, work can start only after:

• the restrictive measures due to the coronavirus are lifted
• ITW-LKW provides proof of funds for the works and of the financial status of the company.

Within one month of publication of the ministerial decision in the Bulletin of Hydrocarbons and Georesources (BUIG), ITW-LKW must provide bank guarantees to cover the risk of any accidents caused by the work and the cost of any necessary clean-up work and environmental remediation.

The first phase of the work could see the implementation of an environmental monitoring network, then the drilling of four reinjection wells and verification of their function. After that, the company would be able to proceed with the construction and testing of the entire plant. Only if the test phase is successful can MISE approve the use of geothermal resources.

All in all, there is still a long path ahead with several potential stumbling blocks. Among these, one major problem could be the lack of funding incentives for pilot plants, a category that no longer enjoys significant incentives.

However, there is reason to fear that with the need for urgent economic recovery, MISE, which is currently working on a new subsidy program for renewable energy, will ignore the well-founded objections against this type of geothermal energy.

We therefore invite you to sign the STOP INCENTIVES petition!

And we hope that the Geothermal Committee of the 31 Mayors of the lake area will make its voice heard.