Flavio Cattaneo, Chief Executive Officer of Terna, and Dominique Maillard, Chairman of the Executive Board of RTE, the French transmission system operator, signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the purpose of increasing the capacity of the electricity interconnection between Italy and France, and to ensure increased safety in the exchange of energy supply for the future. 

This Memorandum expresses the common commitment of both TSO’s towards developing additional interconnection between France and Italy in order to increase as a target by at least 60% the existing interconnection capacity.  RTE and TERNA have agreed : 

• To  launch a project for the optimization of the existing Transalpine electricity grid. 

Increase of capacity will result from the implementation of higher performance cables on the existing lines, and from a reorganization of the network without any new cross border line. The total cost of this project is estimated at 160 million euro with completion by 2012 and work is scheduled to begin in 2008. 

• To undertake a feasibility study for the design of a new HVDC (High Voltage Direct

Current) interconnection of 1000 MW between Grande-Ile and Piossasco, which will cross the border via a security passage of the Frejus tunnel (the construction of which was announced by both governments on 28 April 2006) or an alternative equivalent solution.