Electricity production from renewable sources has doubled in Italy in the last 10 years, it has helped to stabilize the variability of water production, but not all regions are green. And the picture of the territories in surplus and those in energy deficit is still very unbalanced along the boot: only 7 out of 20 Regions, in fact, produce more than they consume. All the others must "import" energy: from other Regions or from abroad. With even significant losses along the network and considerable costs, therefore, for the community. This is the summary of the photograph taken by the Report on regional electricity balances created by Sandro Renzi and published on Tuesday by Amici della Terra, processing Terna data.
Through a comparison on a ten-year basis (2005-2015), the study highlights the noticeable difference as a percentage of network losses between the northern and southern regions. Again with reference to the same period, it should be noted that consumption for pumping decreased by 80%.
As far as the 'renewable energy, however, we note that the production between 2005 and 2015 is more than doubled.
In Italy, the price of electricity is calculated through the average of the prices between the various areas into which the national territory is divided. Consequently, the less virtuous regions will "unload" theirs inefficiency on the best regions from this point of view, contributing negatively to the aggregate figure.
Contrary to what one might think by observing the data of the study relating to the summary picture of the national budget, the electricity production deficit, which is calculated in gigawatt hours (equal to 1 million kilowatt hours) as the difference between demand and production intended for consumption, it is not due to the absence of production capacity, on the contrary.
Keeping electricity production plants active involves very high fixed costs. The drop in demand caused by the economic crisis has thus ended up making many thermoelectric plants uneconomical, overridden by the grid priority guaranteed to green electricity. Hence the recourse to imports, which are cheaper in terms of price.
It is not a problem of lack of production capacity, but a problem of economy of production. To confirm what has just been said, here is the graph that explains the composition of the electricity supply in gigawatt hours (GWh): the most evident trend that catches the eye is the collapse of non-renewable production (-46%) and the increase in renewable energy (+54%) in the period 2005-2015.
As far as the data on renewables is concerned, the share of production is equal to 38% of the total production, against 16% in 2005. The production of renewable energy in Italy is made up as follows:
From Sandro Renzi's study we can see how only 7 regions out of 20 have a production higher than their demand (Calabria, Molise, Puglia, Sardinia, Sicily, Trentino Alto Adige and Valle d'Aosta).
The more industrialized and populated regions are missing. Let's take a more detailed look at the main ones. There Lombardia for example, reported in 2015 a deficit of production compared to the request of 26.640 GWh. The share of renewable generation has increased from 16% in 2005 to 39% two years ago, with energy water to be the driving force. As regards the demand for electricity, the main source is obviously industry, followed by the services sector and household demand.
Il Lazio on the other hand, in the decade considered, it passed from a situation of surplus – albeit marginal, 138 GWh – to a heavy deficit (5.223 GWh). The production of renewable energy has grown, but not at an exceptional rate, and in 2015 it was equal to 18%, one of the lowest results in Italy. The main resource among the renewable sources is solar energy. Furthermore, the composition of the demand for electricity has changed compared to the northern regions. Industry is even below the tertiary and domestic sectors. This explains the unfortunate situation regarding the Capital Region. Little industry, scarce resources.
Il Piemonte it is in an intermediate situation compared to the two Regions mentioned above: if the production deficit exists but with a figure close to zero, the share of renewable production is very high, equal to 45%. The region is growing from this point of view. The figure relating to the production deficit in 2005 was equal to 8359 GWh, in 2015 to 838 GWh. Renewables grow at high speed.
Reading the study you can see many interesting data, some of which are even unexpected. The greenest region of Italy? La Valle of Aosta. The share of renewable production is simply 100% (98,9% water power). In fact, starting from the second half of 2005, the quota of non-renewable production is equal to zero. Next, we find Trentino Alto Adige (89%), Umbria (88%) and the Marches (86%).
The worst region instead from the point of view of the production of renewable energy is the Liguria (10%), certainly penalized by a territorial composition that leaves little room for the exploitation of the energy potential deriving from renewable sources. They follow Sicilia e Sardinia in the list of the three worst on the “green” side.
