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
| 03 Jun 25 |
Italy: Vestas receives 127 MW of orders in Italy Vestas has received 127 MW of orders in Italy as part of its Q2 order intake. Turbine delivery is scheduled for 2025 / 2026, with commissioning 2026. |
| 30 May 25 |
Italy: Zenith Energy acquires solar energy assets in Italy Zenith Energy has acquired a total of three solar energy production assets in Italy, located in the regions of Piedmont and Lazio, by way of its Italian subsidiary created for the purpose of managing its new solar energy portfolio WESOLAR. |
| 28 May 25 |
Italy: Plenitude and Marelli sign agreement for the construction of three photovoltaic plants and an Energy Community Plenitude and Marelli, a multinational company specializing in the supply of high-tech products and systems for the automotive industry, have signed an agreement for the construction of three photovoltaic plants and an Energy Community. The plants will be located at Marelli’s production sites in Melfi (Potenza), Sulmona (L’Aquila), and Turin, with a total installed capacity of 5.4 MWp. |
| 07 May 25 |
Italy: DNV advances Italy's solar future with next-generation resource measurement stations DNV has deployed an innovative network of solar resource measurement stations across Italy to enhance renewable energy development. These advanced installations track solar irradiance and albedo - the fraction of sunlight reflected by a surface - alongside soiling data, enabling precise system optimization and maximized energy yield, with unprecedented data accuracy. |
| 02 May 25 |
Italy: Prospex Energy announces Q1 2025 activity report Prospex Energy, the AIM quoted investment 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 Q1-2025 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
