ROME, May 14 (Reuters) - Italian energy group Edison EDNn.MI said on Wednesday it received the first cargo of liquefied natural gas $(LNG)$ from U.S. firm Venture Global VG.N, adding it would continue litigation over delays in its delivery.

A cargo of 165,000 cubic metres of LNG from Venture Global's Calcasieu Pass export facility in Louisiana arrived at the Italian port of Piombino ready to be regasified and fed into the national network, Edison said.

The delivery marks the start of a contract Edison signed with Venture Global in 2017, Edison's Executive Vice President for Gas & Power Portfolio Management & Optimization said in a statement.

Still, the arbitration Edison initiated two years ago at the London Court of International Arbitration "for breach of contractual terms by Venture Global, continues", the statement added.

Edison is one of several European energy companies, including Shell SHEL.L, BP BP.L and Galp GALP.LS that have filed arbitration claims saying Venture Global deliberately failed to fulfil its supply contracts, dragging its feet to commission the plant so it could profit from higher spot prices.

Commissioning, or making sure a new plant's systems are functioning as designed, takes months at many LNG facilities, but the process dragged on at Calcasieu Pass due to several unforeseen circumstances, Venture Global has said.

The U.S firm, the second-largest producer of LNG in the country, has blamed the COVID-19 pandemic, two hurricanes and a force majeure event triggered by issues with the facility's power island for the extended commissioning.

(Reporting by Alvise Armellini; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)

((alvise.armellini@thomsonreuters.com;))