ROME, March 31 (Reuters) - Italy is set to postpone to 2038, 13 years later than originally planned, the permanent shutdown of its coal-fired power plants, according to a bill passed by the lower house of parliament on Tuesday.
The move signals the willingness of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government to dial down anti-climate change policies in the face of growing energy supply challenges triggered by the conflict in Iran.
Italy has four coal-powered plants currently on stand-by, three of which are owned by the country's largest utility Enel.
Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said this month they could be reactivated if the conflict in the Middle East were to provoke an energy crisis.
Under its 2024 energy and climate plan (PNIEC), Italy was due to abandon coal for good by the end of 2025. The decree that postpones the deadline to 2038 still needs to be approved by the Senate, but that is widely expected, given government support.
The co-ruling League party, which pushed for the postponement, said it was "right and responsible" to reconsider abandoning coal in the light of the current "serious international energy crisis."
The centre-left opposition and environmental groups, on the other hand, condemned the move. WWF Italy called it "a dangerous U-turn for the fight against climate change and for the health of citizens".
In 2024, while holding the G7 presidency, Italy chaired a meeting in which members of the Group of Seven major democracies agreed to end the use of coal in power generation by 2035.
(Reporting by Alvise Armellini, editing by Gavin Jones)
