Electricity: the Italian regions' identikit

The Lombardy region leads the tables in terms of energy consumption. The largest region in the North ranks first in the Italian tables of electricity consumption, at 67.4 billion Kwh, more than double than the runner-up Veneto, standing at 31 billion. The bronze medal on the other hand goes to Emilia Romagna, at 28.4 billion, with the Piedmont region falling just short of a podium position (24.4 billion).

This emerges from Terna’s 2018 regional statistics, the last year when complete and comparable data is available. This wealth of data accumulated by Italy’s national transmission grid operator provides an “X-ray overview” of how and where energy was produced, and how it can be matched up with the demand coming from consumers, whether they are industries, households, farmers, small or larger businesses in the tertiary sector. An identikit of consumption by Italians emerges that demands our attention.

If we calculated them altogether, the first four regions exceed 150 billion Kwh, in other words, half of Italy’s overall consumption, which totalled 303.4 billion Kwh last year. At national level, net energy production stands at 279.8 billion Kwh, meaning that Italy imports 13.7% of its electricity requirement from abroad.

Even without taking into consideration any leaks along the grid, it is evident that energy production figures in the primary regions are much lower than consumption: Lombardy produces 47.3 billion Kwh, Veneto 17.6 (practically half of what is consumes), and Emilia Romagna, 22. The major exception is Piedmont, where gross production is at 30.5 billion Kwh, around 6 times more than what the region itself uses.

Coming back to consumption, we can dispel the myth that the South absorbs less energy than the North, and is therefore less active. To find an area in the North, we need to go half-way down the rankings: specifically, to Friuli, which finds itself essentially in an energy consumption-production balance (10.3 billion Kwh consumed and 10.5 produced). The ratio between consumption and production is distinctly positive on the other hand in Sardinia (8.4 billion Kwh compared to 13) and in Trentino Alto Adige (6.8 compared to 12), separated in the tables in 12th position by Marches (notably in the red at 7 billion Kwh consumed and barely 2.5 produced). This deficit in the Marches, will most certainly be alleviated by the Italy-Montenegro interconnection, which will shortly be inaugurated and is expected to become operational by the end of the year.

In the consumption rankings, with a slight energy deficit are Abruzzo (6.3 billion Kwh consumed compared to 5.5 produced), Liguria (6 consumed compared to 5.6 produced) and Umbria (5.3 consumed and 3.3 produced).

Followed immediately in 17th position by Calabria, which has an incredible surplus with 5.2 billion Kwh consumed and 17.5 produced. More than triple: exactly the same position as we see at the other end of the boot of Italy, in Valle d’Aosta (965 million consumed and 3.6 billion produced), which is also the last region in the standings in terms of consumption (which is all green), immediately after Basilicata (2.7 billion Kwh consumed and 3.5 produced) and Molise (1.4 and 2.9).

But let’s look at the consumption rankings again. Lazio comes in at 5th position with 21.6 billion Kwh (compared to 19 billion produced), followed closely by Tuscany at 19.5 (producing 16). The three primary regions in the South occupy 7th, 8th and 9th position, with figures that are almost identical: Sicily consumes 17 billion Kwh, Campania 16.8 and Puglia 16.7. But where the first two regions have a deficit in their energy balance (production in Sicily stands at 16.4 billion Kwh, and in Campania at 10.9), the position is quite different in Puglia, which produces almost double what it consumes (29.9 billion Kwh gross) and can therefore distribute the surplus to other regions.

The distance from Puglia to Lombardy is certainly significant, and this is the reason why Terna is working on interconnections: to facilitate the exchange between one region and the next at an internal level. Or between Italy and the rest of Europe, if we look abroad.