Wind, solar energy production hit record high in Italy in 2023

MILAN (Reuters) - Wind and solar energy production hit an all-time record last year in Italy, as the country more than doubled its newly-installed green source capacity, power grid operator Terna said on Monday.

Solar panel production rose to 30.6 Terawatt hours (TWh) while wind farms produced 23.4 TWh, Terna said. It added that all renewable sources, including hydroelectric plants, covered nearly 37% of electricity demand, up from 31% in 2022.

Newly-installed renewable capacity rose by 5.8 gigawatt (GW), signalling a big jump compared with 2022 when new additions in green capacity were equal to 2.7 GW, the grid operator said.

In 2023 power consumption in the country fell 2.8% year-on-year, to 306.1 billion kWh, Terna added.

(Reporting by Francesca Landini, editing by Alvise Armellini)