(AGENPARL) – gio 21 settembre 2023 Monthly demand at 25.7 billion kWh
TERNA: ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION DOWN 1.1% IN AUGUST
43.8% of demand was covered by renewables: recovery of hydroelectric production
continued, +49.8% in August 2022
Installed renewable capacity increased by 4,770 MW from September 2022
Thermal energy production was down 20% on the same month last year and 16.6% over the first eight months of the year, with an overall saving of 3.3 billion
cubic meters of gas compared to 2022
Rome, 21 September 2023 – Monthly electricity demand amounted to 25.7 billion kWh in
August, -1.1% compared to the same period of 2022, according to data from Terna, the
Italian national power grid operator. This figure was achieved with the same number of
working days (22) and a slightly lower monthly average temperature compared to August
2022 (-0.6°). Adjusting for these effects, the change shifts to a +0.7% compared to August
2022.
Terna’s IMCEI index, which examines the industrial consumption of around 1,000 energyintensive companies, shows no overall change from the same month last year. While sectors
like transport, food & drink and steel saw positive variations, non-ferrous metals, chemicals,
paper and mechanical industries experienced declines. Cement, lime and chalk sectors,
ceramics and glass remained stable.
The value of electricity demand, seasonally adjusted and corrected for temperature effects,
grew by +1% compared to July 2023. Meanwhile, the IMCEI index remained substantially in
line with last year (+0.2%).
In the first eight months of 2023, cumulative electricity demand in Italy was down by 4.5%
compared to the same period in 2022 (adjusted figure: -3.4%). The IMCEI index also
recorded a negative change, showing a -5.3% decrease from January to August.
Geographically, the year-over-year change in August was negative across the board: -1.4%
in the North, -1.1% in Central Italy and -0.6% in the South and on the Islands.
In August 2023, 87.1% of Italian electricity demand was met by domestic production, while
the remaining 12.9% was supplied through cross-border energy exchanges. Net national
production amounted to 22.6 billion kWh, down 3.5% on August 2022. Last month,
renewable sources produced a total of 11.3 billion kWh, covering 43.8% of the electricity
demand (against 34.1% in August 2022).
The breakdown of renewable energy production in August was as follows: 34.7%
hydroelectric, 33.3% photovoltaic, 15.5% wind, 12.6% biomass and 3.9% geothermal
sources.
According to Terna’s monthly report, considering all renewable sources, Italy saw an
increase in capacity of 3,470 MW in the first eight months of 2023, a significantly higher
value by approximately 1,733 MW (+100%) compared to the same period in 2022. Extending
the analysis to the past 12 months (from September 2022 to August 2023), the increase
rises to +4,770 MW.
The recovery in hydroelectric production (+49.8%) and the growth in photovoltaic energy
(+19.8%) continued, as did the increase in wind energy production (+43.8%). Meanwhile,
thermal production decreased (-20.5%, with a -57.2% change in coal production), as did
geothermoelectric production (-3.7%). Examining the first eight months of the year, the
combined effect of decreased demand, increased imports, and the growth of renewable
sources resulted in significant reduction in thermal energy production (-16,6%), leading to
an estimated 3.3 billion cubic meters reduction in gas consumption for thermal electricity
production compared to the same period in 2022.
The import-export balance stood at +19%, with the combined effect of lower exports (-8.9%)
and increased imports (+15.8%).
Detailed analysis of provisional 2022 and 2023 monthly electricity demand is available in
the “Monthly Report on the Electricity System”, published in the section “Electric system >>
Publications >> Monthly Report” on the website http://www.terna.it.
Real-time data on operation of the Italian electricity system is available through the Terna
app, which can be downloaded from leading app stores:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.terna.energia&hl=en
Monthly Industrial Electricity Consumption Index data is available on the website:
https://www.terna.it/en/electric-system/statistical-data-forecast/imcei