Electricity consumption in Italy: +1.7% in december

NEWS

19

January 2018

Growth in solar and wind generation

Demand stood at 320.4 billion kWh in 2017 (+2% compared to 2016), the highest figure for 5 years

Rome, 19 January 2018 - In December 2017, according to data collected by Terna, the company that manages the national electricity grid, electricity demand in Italy stood at 26.9 billion kWh, a 1.7% increase compared to volumes for the same month the year before. Demand reflected the number of days and temperature: this year, December had 2 fewer working days (18 vs 20) and a temperature of around 1°C lower compared to the reference average.
According to the provisional data processed by Terna, Italy's total electricity demand in 2017 amounted to 320.4 billion kWh (up by 2% compared to 2016; based on the same number of days, there was a 2.3% increase) which is the highest figure since 2013.
Nationally, the December 2017 trend was positive everywhere and essentially in line with the national average across the country: +1.7% in the North, +1.5% in Central Italy and +1.8% in the South.
The short-term profile for December 2017 showed a slight, seasonally-adjusted increase in electricity demand compared to the previous month (+0.5%). This represents a stable trend.
In December 2017, 87.6% of electricity demand was met by national production and the remainder (12.4%) by the balance of electricity exchanged with foreign countries. More specifically, net national production (23.9 billion kWh) dropped by 6.1% compared to December 2016. Geothermal production increased (+0.2%), as did solar (+1%) and wind power (+50.4%), while hydroelectric (15.6%) and thermal production (-9.5%) dropped.
Maximum electricity demand in December 2017 was 54,045 MW, recorded on Tuesday 19 at 18:00. This was 1.5% higher than the value measured at the same point in December 2016.
The detailed analysis of provisional 2017 and definitive 2016 monthly electricity demand is available in the publication 'Monthly Report on the Electricity System', under the section 'Electric System»Dispatching»Operating Data»Monthly Report' at www.terna.it

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