Italian energy group Enel hopes a new Italian government under Silvio Berlusconi will re-boot the country's nuclear industry, a German press report said Monday.
"We are capable of presenting such a project," Enel chief executive Fulvio Conti told the Financial Times Deutschland.
"It would take seven to 10 years for a new nuclear generator to come online."
Enel was seeking to free itself from a heavy dependence on natural gas, Conti added.
He pointed to remarks by Berlusconi, whose electoral victory has set him up to become Italian prime minister for a third time and who said he wanted to review an Italian decision to abandon nuclear power.
That decision was taken following the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl, Ukraine on April 26, 1986.
The Italian state owns a direct or indirect stake of around 30 percent in Enel, the newspaper noted.
Speaking at the International Energy Forum in Rome, Conti said that Italy — which generates around 60 percent of its energy from gas — was "too dependent" on gas imports.
Furthermore, because it lacked the necessary infrastructure, such as gas pipelines and liquified natural gas (LNG) terminals, it was in an even weaker position that other countries.
Italy's position was "even more fragile … because we are falling short of infrastructure capacity. We lack new gas pipelines or new LNGs," he said.
ENEL was trying to counter that "by investing in alternative energy," Conti said.
Italy and Europe should also reduce their dependence on Russia for gas, the CEO continued, asserting that the way to maintain the correct balance in such a relationship was to focus on partnerships.
"The policy of creating partnerships is the right one to maintain dependency on a positive side," he said.
Turning to oil prices, Conti said that prices would likely remain elevated now.
"I am sure they will continue to be high. Oil prices will remain higher as long as demand remains high," he said.
