Lorenzo Dellai, president of the Autonomous Province of Trento, and Luigi Roth, Chairman of Terna, the company responsible for developing Italy's electricity transmission grid signed an important Memorandum of Agreement for the electricity grid’s sustainable development in the Province. The Memorandum was also signed by the municipal authorities of Trento, Civezzano and Pergine Valsugana, and by SET Distribuzione.

The agreement regards projects for upgrading the 132-kV electricity grid in Trento Sud with the objective of removing existing power lines from urban centers and strengthening the grid by increasing the electricity service’s safety, quality and efficiency in the city of Trento. The investment will equal 17 million euros, nearly one third of the total investments allocated by Terna in the Province, in line with the Development Plan.

The project includes:

• Removing approximately 20 km of old electricity lines, with a total of 85 pylons, presently existing in the urban area of Trento Sud (10.5 km) and in the area of Civezzano and Pergine Valsugana (9.2 km), significantly reducing the urban impact. Advantages also for the environment: the project will allow reducing grid losses for approximately 14 million kWh/year consequently also reducing CO2 emissions for over 6 thousand tons a year.
• Building approximately 18 km of new overhead 132-kV and 220-kV power lines and of 3.2 km of 132-kV buried lines.

The agreement is the result of a coordinated and shared process that initially began with an Agreement between the Government and the Autonomous Province of Trento and later with a Memorandum in 2006 signed between Terna and the Autonomous Province of Trento for applying the SEA (Strategic Environmental Assessment) to the development plan of the electricity transmission grid, thanks to which a technical working group was created for exchanging information and collaborating, particularly focusing on hypothesis and studies for developing and upgrading power lines in Trentino.

In addition to upgrading Trento’s electricity grid, Terna also planned other sustainable development projects in the Province, some of which already under way. Overall, Terna’s investments in Trentino amount to over 53 million euros and are aimed at sustainably modernizing the electricity grid, improving the electricity service for both companies and families.