Riva Power Line Upgrade: Province Prefers Cost-Effective Restoration
Officially, all roads remain open. The hypotheses range from recovering the old decommissioned Riva-Dro line, with a single corridor from Cementi Riva to Cretaccio, to the complete undergrounding along the route of the future ring road in Riva.
However, in practice, at least unofficially so far, the Province has already outlined a general orientation: a stronger preference for solution number one, mainly because in terms of costs it has less impact on public finances.
Just over 900 million euros compared to the 4 or 6 billion euros more that the other two hypotheses, which involve partial or total undergrounding of the new Riva power line, would cost. Therefore, undergrounding is considered too expensive and does not guarantee absolute environmental or health protection.
Future decisions and proposals
The definitive choice of the route will be made in the coming weeks, after a new meeting with the administrations of Riva, Arco, and especially Enel. This is the essence of a letter signed by the provincial urban planning and energy councilor Roberto Pinter, addressed to his colleague on the council Iva Berasi, and also sent a few days ago to the environmental managers of Riva, Luigi Marino, and Arco, Fabrizio Miori.
The undergrounding hypothesis (in its partial version, from Ballerà to Cementi Riva, along the route of the future western ring road) is not ruled out outright, but the high cost of this solution (4 billion euros more than Enel’s original project) is evident, and the issue of who should bear this additional expense remains unresolved.
Furthermore, aside from forecasts and hopes, there is no certainty about the timing of the Riva ring road’s construction. But since the core issue is primarily financial, the most feasible and also supported by the Province is the restoration of the decommissioned Riva-Dro line, identifying Cementi Riva as the connection point to the 132 kV line.
The two lines, originating from Riva and Arco, would then run parallel in a double overhead line along a single corridor from the Ceole area to Cretaccio. Additionally, Enel’s proposal includes the remediation of four critical points: in the Ballerà area, at the Varone Hotel School, at Pasina, and at the intersection of the Grazie state road with via Venezia.
Around 500 million euros would burden the budgets of the Riva municipality, and 400 million euros those of Arco, unless the Province itself contributes a share. The Province’s Energy Service has verified these months the cost estimates presented by Enel, confirming the agency’s projections.
Now, all that remains is to meet and close the deal. “Indeed, we are late,” admits the green councilor Iva Berasi. “After the holidays, it will be necessary to push for a meeting with Enel.” Meanwhile, the issue has been discussed in the Riva urban planning committee.
Further in-depth discussions are expected in the coming weeks, with the possibility, strongly supported by counselor Pietro Bertoldi, of bringing the topic to the municipal council for debate.
