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
| 28 Sep 26 |
Italy: Zenith Energy announces the acquisition of 11 MWp PV development projects in Lombardy Zenith Energy, the international energy production and development company, has announced the acquisition of two further ground-mounted photovoltaic development projects in Stradella, in the Province of Pavia, in the Lombardy region of Italy. |
| 23 Sep 26 |
Italy: Beacon Energy provides update on well integrity and testing at Colle Santo AIM-listed Beacon Energy has been informed by LNEnergy that the equipment required to undertake well testing operations on the two existing wells, MP-1 and MP-2, will shortly be mobilised to the Colle Santo site. A 5-day production test is expected to commence in the coming weeks. |
| 17 Sep 26 |
Italy: Zenith Energy acquires 9 MWp PV development project in Lombardy Zenith Energy, the international energy production and development company, has announced the acquisition of Stradella 1, a ground-mounted photovoltaic development project with an indicative installed capacity of approx. 9 MWp, located in the Province of Pavia, in the Lombardy region of Italy. Stradella 1 is the Company's first solar development project in Lombardy. |
| 08 Sep 26 |
Italy: GreenIT starts production at two solar plants in Italy, marking a new milestone in its growth journey GreenIT, the joint venture owned by Plenitude (51%) and CDP Equity (49%), has announced the start of production at two solar parks developed, constructed and commissioned by the company in Italy and located in the Piedmont region, in the provinces of Vercelli and Alessandria. |
| 08 Sep 26 |
Italy: Vestas announces two new orders in Italy for a total of 105 MW Vestas has announced two new orders in Italy for a total of 105 MW as part of its Q3 order intake. |
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
