Energy in Italy

Energy in Italy comes mostly from fossil fuels. The most commonly used resources include petroleum, mainly for transportation, natural gas for making electricity and heating homes, and coal. Italy doesn't have many of its own energy resources, so it imports most of what it uses.

A large part of Italy's electricity comes from other countries, especially from Switzerland and France. Over 35% of Italy's total energy goes into making electricity, and this number has been growing since the 1970s.

Today, most electricity in Italy is made using natural gas, which provides more than half of the country's electric power. In the past, hydroelectric power was the main source of electricity, before 1960. In recent years, wind and solar power have grown quickly, and Italy is now one of the world's leaders in producing clean, renewable energy.

Overview

See also: Renewable energy in Italy

Energy in Italy mostly comes from fossil fuels. The most used resources are petroleum, mainly for transportation, natural gas for making electricity and heating, coal, and renewables. Most electricity in Italy is made from natural gas, which provides more than half of the country’s electricity. Another important source used to be hydroelectric power, which was the main way to make electricity until 1960. The first power plant in continental Europe opened in Milan in 1883.

In recent years, Italy has become a big producer of renewable energy. It ranks second in the European Union and ninth in the world for this. Wind power, hydroelectricity, and geothermal power are important electricity sources. Italy was the first country to use geothermal energy for electricity, with the first plant built in Tuscany. Solar energy has also grown a lot, with Italy having the highest share of solar power in the world in 2014.

Italy stopped using nuclear power in the 1980s after the Chernobyl disaster. Most people voted to end nuclear power, so the government closed the plants and stopped new projects in Italy. However, Italy still works with nuclear power in other countries.

General statistics

International comparisons

In rankings by the International Energy Agency, Italy is one of the top ten countries in the world for many energy-related measures.

Energy resources

Italy has some fossil fuels, but they are not very large. Fossil fuels include oil, natural gas, and coal. Italy uses oil mostly for transportation, natural gas for making electricity and heating, and coal for a small part of its energy needs.

Italy does not produce enough energy to meet all its needs and must import a lot. Most of its energy comes from other countries. For example, in 2018, Italy imported almost all of its oil and natural gas because it does not have enough of its own. Italy also has some renewable energy sources, like hydroelectric power in the Alps and solar power, especially in southern regions like Sicily and Sardinia. However, even with these, Italy still needs to import most of its energy.

Energy consumption

From primary energy consumed to final energy consumed

Primary energy consumption

In 2018, Italy used a total of 172.3 Mtoe of energy. Most of this energy came from fossil fuels, which made up 73.9% of the total. This includes coal (5.4%), oil (34.5%), and natural gas (34.0%). Renewable energy sources covered only 20.5% of Italy's needs, with the rest coming from electricity imports. Per person, Italy used 103.4 GJ of energy in 2019, which is 31% more than the world average.

Renewable energy sources provided 34.5% of Italy's electricity. This includes energy from biomass and heat pumps. Biofuels contributed 1.25 Mtoe, mainly in the form of biodiesel.

Final energy consumption

Breakdown by source

In 2018, the final energy used after processing was 127.3 Mtoe, a small increase from 2017. Most of this energy, 73.2%, still came from fossil fuels. This includes coal (1.7%), oil (41.8%), and natural gas (29.7%). Thermal renewable energies made up 7.0%, and electricity accounted for 19.8%. Electricity production was 60.3% from fossil fuels and 39.7% from renewables. So, in total, final energy use was 85% from fossil fuels and 15% from renewables.

The use of renewable energies changed over time.

Breakdown by sector

Final energy use was divided among different areas:

• Non-energy uses: 5.7 Mtep (4.5%; mainly chemicals);
• Bunkers: 3.15 Mtoe (2.5%; aircraft use outside of domestic flights and international ferry lines);
• Domestic use: 118.5 Mtoe (93.1%), including:
  • Industry: 27.2 Mtoe (21.4%);
  • Transport: 40.1 Mtoe (31.5%);
  • Residential and tertiary: 48.1 Mtoe (37.8%);
  • Agriculture: 3.0 Mtoe (2.4%).

Note: The International Energy Agency does not count international bunkers as domestic use.

Electricity

Main article: Electricity sector in Italy

See also: Renewable energy in Italy § Electricity sector

In 2014, Italy used a lot of electricity—about 291,083 terawatt-hours in total. Most of this electricity came from natural gas and hydroelectric power. Italy does not use nuclear power anymore, as people voted against it in 1987.

Italy was also the first country to use geothermal energy to make electricity. The first geothermal power plant was built in Tuscany, and all the geothermal plants in Italy are still there. In 2014, geothermal energy provided about 5.92 terawatt-hours of electricity.

District heating

District heating is used in many places in Europe and has started to grow in Italy since the 1970s. The first Italian city to use it was Brescia in 1972, and Turin joined in 1982. Turin now has one of the largest district heating systems in Italy and Europe. The Italian region with the most district heating is Lombardy.

Most of the heat comes from cogeneration plants, with a small amount from boiler rooms. In 2019, this heating supplied about 3.5% of Italy’s total energy use. It helped industries, homes, and other buildings. The heat comes from different sources like natural gas, biomass, and waste. The amount of heat made grew by 19% between 2005 and 2020. In 2019, Italy made enough heat to rank 10th in the world.

Emissions

Italy's CO₂ emissions reached 5.13 tonnes per person in 2019, which was 17% higher than the world average.

The International Energy Agency also reported emissions for 2019: 302.8 MtCO₂, down 4.5% compared to 2018. Per person, Italy emitted 5.02 tCO₂.

Energy-related CO₂ emissions in Italy grew strongly until 2005, then fell to 428.9 Mt in 2008, dropped sharply in 2009 due to the Great Recession, and continued to decline after that.

Per person, Italy emitted 14.5% less than the European Union average in 2018.