Enel CEO sees Italy power blackout risk this year

ROME, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Italy risks power blackouts this year as the country, heavily dependent on gas imports, has done little to boost infrastructure to meet growing demand, the head of Italy's biggest utility, Enel, said on Tuesday.

Italy covers 85 percent of gas demand with imports. It is seeking to diversify supplies after shortfalls in imports from Russia, a major gas supplier, hit the country in early 2006 during an unusually cold winter.

Nearly two years on, Italy has become even more vulnerable to gas import disruptions because demand, especially to feed power generation, has grown but gas transport routes remain virtually unchanged, Enel (ENEI.MI) Chief Executive Fulvio Conti said.

There was a risk Italy would remain "in the cold and in the dark" this winter, Conti said on the sidelines of a conference.

In August, the chief executive of Italy's oil and gas major Eni (ENI.MI) Paolo Scaroni -- who previously held the top job at Enel -- said Italy would be able to forget about supply problems after next year, when it was due to boost import capacity by some 20 percent.

In 2008, Italy is due to complete an 8 billion cubic metres offshore terminal to import liquefied natural gas and finish boosting the capacity of two existing pipelines, which bring gas from Russia and Algeria, Scaroni has said.