July 9 (Bloomberg) -- Italy will start work on its first new nuclear plant by 2013 after the Senate today approved a return to generation after a 22-year ban, Industry Minister Claudio Scajola said.

The government wants to broaden its mix of energy sources, including coal and renewables, Scajola said at a conference in Rome today. Nuclear power may eventually account for 25 percent of national energy production, he added.

“A majority of Italians understand that in order to have lower energy costs, we need nuclear power,” Scajola said. “A number of local authorities have told me they’re available to have sites on their territory.”

Italy, which has the highest electricity prices in the European Union, has been looking for ways to cut power costs and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Italians voted to shutter the country’s nuclear plants in a 1987 referendum following the Chernobyl accident in the former Soviet Union.

The decision to return to nuclear generation is a “historical choice,” Enel SpA Chief Executive Officer Fulvio Conti said in an e-mailed statement today. Enel has “rebuilt” its expertise through its role in nuclear generation outside Italy, Conti said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lorenzo Totaro in Rome at ltotaro@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 9, 2009 09:23 EDT