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
| 08 Dec 25 |
Italy: European Energy gets CfD’s on five solar projects in Italy totalling 513 MW GSE, the Italian energy agency, has awarded European Energy CfD tariffs for five solar projects totalling 513 MW across Sicily, Apulia and Molise. |
| 08 Dec 25 |
Italy: Vestas secures order for wind project to power cement factory in Italy Vestas has received a 10 MW order for a wind project from Cementeria Costantinopoli Srl, a leading manufacturer of construction materials, to deliver renewable energy directly to their cement factory in the Basilicata region in Italy. |
| 04 Dec 25 |
Italy: RWE successful with four wind and solar projects in Italian renewables auction Contract for difference awarded to four projects with a combined capacity of 68 megawatts across Italy: Serra Giannina wind farm in Basilicata, Ponte Valentino 1 & 2 solar plants in Campania, Carcitella Agri-PV plant in Sicily. |
| 03 Dec 25 |
Italy: Plenitude signs agreement with ACEA for the acquisition of ACEA Energia Plenitude, a company controlled by Eni, and ACEA have signed a binding agreement regarding the acquisition by Plenitude of a 100% equity stake in ACEA Energia, a company fully owned by the ACEA Group that operates in the energy retail market. The transaction also includes a 50% share in the capital of Umbria Energy. |
| 03 Dec 25 |
Italy: Zelestra secures 60 MW of new solar capacity in Italy’s FER X auction Zelestra, a global, multi-technology and customer-focused renewable energy company, participated in Italy’s FER X auction with eight projects and successfully secured the entire pipeline, adding approximately 60 MW of new solar capacity. |
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
