Late Development Other

In March 2025, Terna published its responding analysis to ARERA's Parere 4/2025/I/EEL, revising the expected timeline and CAPEX for the second pole of the Italy–Montenegro interconnector (MON.ITA. 2, PdS code 401-S). The headline conclusions: investment is now estimated at approximately €500 million (excluding ~€27M of onshore cables already laid), up from prior published figures, with the increase reflecting updated cable contract pricing, marine UXO contingency, bipolar commissioning costs, and survey/concession/personnel cost refreshes. The previous 2027 completion target (set in the 22 May 2023 supplementary Piano di Sviluppo report) is no longer realistic: with activities suspended for several years and the HVDC supply market currently saturated, the most optimistic completion estimate is the 2030–2032 window, contingent on procurement tenders launching by Q3 2025. Terna's NPV optimisation spans entry-into-service dates from 2030 to 2035 and concludes that bringing the project forward to 2030 captures the most system benefits — postponing it yields only marginal incremental benefits at the cost of years of foregone gains. The analysis also confirms Pole 2 commissioning remains contingent on the Trans-Balkan Corridor (completion 2028) and Balkan market integration progress.</description> </invoke>