In September, Italian electricity consumption returned to the values of a year ago, after six months of sharp contraction due to the health emergency from Covid-19. Terna, the company that manages the national high and very high voltage electricity grid, recorded an energy demand of 26,6 billion kWh, a figure in line with that of September 2019. Renewable sources covered 36% of demand, compared to 33% in September a year ago. In September 2020, 92,2% of the demand for electricity was met with domestic production and the remainder (7,8%) with the balance of electricity exchanged with foreign countries.
In detail, net national production (24,7 billion kWh) increased by 3% compared to September 2019. Wind (+16,3%), water (+12,3%) sources of production grew and photovoltaic (+5,1%). The source of geothermal production decreased (-3,2), while the thermal one was essentially stationary (-0,1%). At territorial level, the trend change in September 2020 was negative in the North (-1,2%) and positive both in the Center (+1,2%) and in the South and in the Islands (+1,6%). Terna has developed for the first time a weekly index (IMCEI) which directly examines and monitors the industrial consumption of approximately 530 so-called energy-intensive customers connected to the national electricity transmission grid.
These are large industries in the 'cement, lime and plaster', 'steel and steel', 'chemical', 'mechanical', 'means of transport', 'food', 'paper-making', 'ceramic and glass-making', 'non-metallic' sectors ferrous'. Analyzing Terna's measures, in September the IMCEI continues to record a gradual recovery that already started in the summer months, compared to the "double-digit" negative changes that had affected the months of the lockdown. The sample of consumption of industrial customers monitored by Terna, while registering a decrease compared to September last year, it appears to be on the upswing compared to previous months.
The recovery has been led by refineries and cockeries (+42,4%), paper mills (+29,6%), manufacturers of building materials (+9,7%) and chemicals (+1,5%), while the overall figure was negatively affected by the steel sector (-9%). In the first 9 months of 2020, electricity demand was still down (-6,9%) compared to the corresponding period of 2019 (in adjusted terms it is -6,8%). From January to September, renewable sources covered 40% of electricity demand (36% in 2019).
