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
| 18 Feb 26 |
Italy: Zelestra proceeds with construction at the 9.5 MW Bellomo agrivoltaic plant in Italy Zelestra, a global, multi-technology, customer-focused renewable energy company, has started construction at its second solar plant in Italy. The 9.5 MWdc Bellomo project, located in Modica, is the first agrivoltaic plant Zelestra has developed in Sicily. |
| 18 Feb 26 |
Italy: Zenith Energy commences construction of 7 MWp Solar Plants Zenith Energy, the listed international energy production and development company, has announced that, through its wholly-owned Italian subsidiary WESOLAR, it has commenced construction-phase activities for the first assets within its Italian solar pipeline. Zenith has selected three projects in the Puglia region of Italy, totaling 7 MWp, for construction: Andria-1, Andria-3 and Andria-4. |
| 17 Feb 26 |
Italy: MET Group completes second solar park in Italy Swiss-based energy company MET Group has successfully commissioned its Caltignaga solar power plant in Italy. The Agri-PV solar project has an installed capacity of 10 MWp and an expected annual generation of 15 GWh, producing enough electricity to power around 6,000 Italian households each year. |
| 03 Feb 26 |
Italy: Eni and Q8 partner for the construction of the Priolo biorefinery Eni and Q8 Italy have announced a major strategic investment in the ongoing project for the construction of a new biorefinery in Priolo, Sicily. The biorefinery will have a capacity of 500,000 tonnes per year and will offer extensive operational flexibility for the production of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF-Biojet). |
| 02 Feb 26 |
Italy: Zenith Energy acquires solar energy project in Piedmont Zenith Energy, the listed international energy production and development company, has announced the acquisition of an agrivoltaic project at development stage located in the Piedmont region of Italy, through its wholly-owned Italian subsidiary, responsible for managing its solar energy portfolio, WESOLAR. |
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
