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
| 25 Apr 25 |
Italy: Limes Renewable Energy completes sale of a 287 MW solar and wind portfolio in Italy Limes Renewable Energy, a global developer specialising in solar, wind and battery energy storage system (BESS) projects, has successfully completed the sale of a 287 MW Italian portfolio of solar PV and wind projects to an International IPP (Independent Power Producer) with presence in the country. |
| 10 Apr 25 |
Italy: Plenitude and Autostrade per l’Italia sign 10-year PPA Plenitude has signed a 10-year Power Purchase Agreement with Autostrade per l'Italia for the sale of the entire output of a wind power plant owned by Plenitude in the municipality of Banzi (Basilicata, Italy). The plant has a capacity of 16 MW and an estimated electricity production of about 390 GWh over the entire period. |
| 09 Apr 25 |
Italy: Zenith Energy announces acquisition of solar energy assets Zenith Energy has acquired two solar energy production assets in Italy, in the regions of Liguria and Sicily, and established an Italian subsidiary for the purposes of managing its new solar energy portfolio named WESOLAR. |
| 07 Apr 25 |
Italy: SSE breaks ground on Puglia project in Southern Italy Construction is now underway at SSE’s first onshore wind farm project in Puglia, Southern Italy. The project, which comprises the combined Castel Favorito and Masseria la Cattiva sites, will have an installed capacity of 17.3MW from five Siemens Gamesa 132-3.4 MW onshore wind turbines. |
| 26 Mar 25 |
Italy: RWE successful with two onshore wind projects in Italian auction Two RWE wind farms were successful in the latest Italian renewables auction: the 45 megawatt (MW) Venusia wind farm located in the province of Potenza, Basilicata region and the 48 MW Serra Palino wind farm located in the province of Foggia, Apulia region. The start of construction is planned for the second half of 2025, with commissioning planned for next year. |
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
