Europe / Caspian / CIS
Country profile: Italy
| Location: | Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia |
| Climate: | predominantly Mediterranean; Alpine in far north; hot, dry in south |
| Terrain: | mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands |
| Size: | 301230 sq. km total (Land area: 294020 sq. km Water area: 7210 sq.km) |
| Population: | 58,145,321 (July 2008 est.) |
| Languages: | Italian (official), German (parts of Trentino-Alto Adige region are predominantly German speaking), French (small French-speaking minority in Valle d'Aosta region), Slovene (Slovene-speaking minority in the Trieste-Gorizia area) |
| Government: | republic |
| Capital city: | Rome |
| Legal system: | based on civil law system; appeals treated as new trials; judicial review under certain conditions in Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| Currency: | euro (EUR) |
| Licensing: |
Country profile
With limited domestic energy sources, Italy is highly dependent on imports to meet its consumption needs. In absolute terms, oil consumption has remained relatively static since 1970, but oil's share of Italy’s primary energy mix has decreased significantly, steadily replaced by natural gas. A pressing issue affecting Italy has been the country's electricity supply. Over the past decade, Italy’s installed electricity generation has not been able to keep up with demand, resulting in an increased share of electricity imports as a percent of total consumption.
Oil is the largest source of Italy’s energy consumption, representing 47 percent of primary energy consumption in 2004. Natural gas is the second-largest with 35 percent of primary energy consumption, followed by minor contributions from coal (8 percent), hydroelectricity (5 percent), and other renewables (2 percent). Unlike many other OECD countries, Italy still relies upon oil for a sizable portion of electricity generation: preliminary International Energy Agency (IEA) data for 2005 shows that Italy relied upon oil for 16 percent of its electricity generation, versus 5 percent for the OECD as a whole.
Energy production and consumption
| Oil | Gas | |
| Production: | 164,800 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 11 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
| Consumption: | 1 million bbl/day (2005 est.) | 82 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
| Exports: | 521,400 bbl/day (2004 est.) | 379 million cu m (2005 est.) |
| Imports: | 2 million bbl/day (2004 est.) | 70 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
| Reserves: | 621 million bbl/day (2006 est.) | 217 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.) |
| Major fields: |
Italy - recent news
| 21 May 26 |
Italy: RWE starts construction of 42-megawatt onshore wind farm in Italy RWE has started construction of the Serra Giannina onshore wind farm, which is located in the municipality of Potenza, in the Basilicata region. The project, which was awarded in last year’s FER-X auction, will have an installed capacity of 42 megawatts (MW). |
| 18 May 26 |
Italy: European Energy begins construction on Italy’s largest agrivoltaic project European Energy has started construction on a 225.5 MW agrivoltaic project near Vizzini in Sicily, following a final investment decision exceeding EUR 200 million. The project is expected to become Italy’s largest agrivoltaic plant and one of the largest in Europe. |
| 18 May 26 |
Italy: Magnora adds 30 MW data center project to its portfolio in Italy Magnora, a developer of data center, wind, solar, and battery projects, as well as a data center operator, has secured its second data center (DC) project in Italy, bringing Magnora’s DC project portfolio to gross 585 MW and net 460 MW. |
| 13 May 26 |
Italy: Iberdrola expands its generation capacity in Italy to 450 MW with new wind project Iberdrola has reached an agreement to acquire a wind power plant with an installed capacity of 40 MW, located in Basilicata (Italy) from Belenergia, an Italian based renewable energy group, and RGREEN INVEST, a French investment firm focused on green infrastructure investments in the energy transition sector. |
| 30 Apr 26 |
Italy: Prospex Energy provides an update on the Selva Malvezzi production concession Prospex Energy, the AIM quoted investing company focused on European gas and power projects, has provided an update from the Selva Malvezzi production concession in Italy following the publication by Po Valley Energy of its Q1-2026 activity report. |
Italy - more news
Other countries in this region
- Afghanistan,
- Albania,
- Armenia,
- Austria,
- Azerbaijan,
- Belarus,
- Belgium,
- Bosnia and Herzegovina,
- Bulgaria,
- Croatia,
- Cyprus,
- Czech Republic,
- Denmark,
- Estonia,
- Faroe Islands,
- Finland,
- France,
- Georgia,
- Germany,
- Greece,
- Greenland,
- Hungary,
- Iceland,
- Ireland,
- Kazakhstan,
- Kyrgyzstan,
- Latvia,
- Lithuania,
- Luxembourg,
- Malta,
- Moldova,
- Montenegro,
- Netherlands,
- Norway,
- Poland,
- Portugal,
- Romania,
- Russia,
- Serbia,
- Slovakia,
- Slovenia,
- Spain,
- Sweden,
- Switzerland,
- Tajikistan,
- Tatarstan,
- Turkey,
- Turkmenistan,
- Ukraine,
- United Kingdom,
- Uzbekistan
