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Renewable energy in Italy

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Renewable Energy in Italy
Renewable Energy (RE)
RE as % of Gross Final Energy Consumption.17.1% (2014)
Target for above.17.0% (2020)
Renewable Electricity
Percentage of electricity generated by RE.(est) 43.1% (2014)
RE generated / Total electricity generation.120,677 / 279,829 GWh (2014)
Record % RE covered electricity consumption100% (June16th 2013)
Installed capacity (2015)[1]
Wind Power.9.1 GW
Bio Energy.4.1 GW
Solar Power.18.9 GW
Hydro Power.18.5 GW
Geothermal0.8 GW
Total51.5 GW
Country Notes
  • Country with the worlds highest solar power penetration.
  • Diverse spread of RE sources.
  • Achieved its 2020 RE targets 6 years early.

Renewable energy has developed rapidly in Italy over the past decade and provided the country a means of diversifying from its historical dependency on imported fuels. Solar energy production alone accounted for around 8% of the total electric production in the country in 2014, making Italy the country with the highest contribution from solar energy in the world.[2] Rapid growth in the deployment of solar, wind and bio energy in recent years lead to Italy producing over 40% of its electricity from renewable sources in 2014.

The share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption (all energy uses) had risen to 17.1% in 2014.[3] This number has been growing steadily and today accounts for one of the principal components of national energy consumption. In 2014, 38.2% of the national electric energy consumption came from renewable sources (in 2005 this value was 15.4%), covering 16% of the total energy consumption of the country (5.3% in 2005).[2] The corresponding figure for electricity generation was even higher as consumption figures are reduced by electricity imports (13.6% of the total in 2014.[1] Imported electricity may also contain a high proportion of electricity generated from renewable sources but these are not accounted for in consumption figures.

All 8,047 Italian municipalities (comune) have deployed some source of renewable energy, with hydroelectric power being the leading renewable energy source in terms of production. Bio energy, wind power and geothermal power also make an important contribution to national energy demands. By 2013, renewable energy primary consumption in Italy had grown to 14.6 Mtoe (Million tonnes of oil equivalent).

History

The urge to produce exclusively green energy in Italy came from the need to reduce the country's historical heavy dependence on fossil fuels and supply flows of hydrocarbons coming from Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa,[4] and to comply with the binding international agreements of the Kyoto Protocol (signed in 1997 and implemented in 2005).

During the twentieth century, Italy was at the forefront of technological development and the production of energy from renewable sources. In the field of geothermal energy, the first plant dates back to 1904, at Larderello in Tuscany, where in 1913 the first geothermal power plant was also built, and remained the only one in the world until 1958.[5] With regards to hydropower, the first plant in Europe was built in Paderno d'Adda in Lombardy between 1895 and 1898.[6] In the solar energy industry, the first power plant (that could produce steam at 450 °C) was built in Genoa in 1963, and in 1980 the first solar power tower that uses mirrors was built at Adrano in Sicily.[7] As for the production of wind power, the first experimental projects (sponsored by the National Research Council and in collaboration with Enel) were started in the second half of the seventies as part of the restructuring of the entire system of production and supply of energy that followed the 1973 and 1979 energy crisis.[8]

During the eighties and the nineties renewable energy projects drew new life from three co-occurring factors: the rapid price increase of crude oil (caused by the tension and armed conflicts in the Middle East and Persian Gulf); a new public awareness of environmentalism (fuelled by the Chernobyl disaster in 1986[9]); and the interruption of all construction of nuclear power plants in Italy and the ban on Enel on the participating in the construction or management of nuclear power plants beyond national borders (following the referendum of 1987).

Electricity

Renewable electricity by source

Renewable electricity in Italy 2015 by source, preliminary estimates. Data from GSE.it

-Share of total gross electricity production in Italy 2015

(Estimate based on table below).

Hydroelectric 15.6%
Solar 8.1%
Bio energy 6.7%
Wind 5.3%
Geothermal 2.2%
TOTAL RENEWABLE 37.9%

In 2015 renewable electricity provided around 37.9% of Italy's total gross electricity production, a fall from around 43.1% in the previous year due to large yearly variations in hydroelectric production. Hydroelectric power continued to provide the largest single source of renewable energy generated electricity in 2015 at around 15.6% of national production. Solar generation provided the next largest share at around 8.1%, a figure which is remarkable given that most solar installations have occurred since 2010. Bio energy provided around 6.7% followed closely by wind power at 5.3%. Geothermal power provided the smallest share at an estimated 2.2%.

Growth of renewable electricity

Between 2005 and 2011 a surge in renewable energy investments and production took place in Italy, particularly in wind and solar energy during the latter years. Total electricity produced from solar PV quintupled in 2011 compared to the previous year.[10] This was mainly due to a drop in costs and to high incentives introduced since 2005.[11] The Italian fossil fuel electricity generation sector underwent a profound crisis.[12]Many Italian power plants burning fossil fuels were running at half capacity and others were in the process of being shut down.[13]

-Renewable gross electricity production (GWh) from renewable sources in Italy, 2010-2015*

Total Gross Generation** Hydro Solar Wind Geothermal Bio energy Total Renewable % of Total Gross Generation (est)
2010 278,196 51,117 1,906 9,126 5,376 9,440 76,965 27.7%
2011 279,009 45,823 10,796 9,856 5,654 10,832 82,961 29.7%
2012 283,220 41,875 18,862 13,407 5,592 12,487 92,223 32.6%
2013 289,803 52,773 21,589 14,897 5,659 17,090 112,008 38.6%
2014 279,829 58,545 22,306 15,178 5,916 18,732 120,677 43.1%
2015 ***281,354 43,902 22,847 14,883 6,160 18,894 106,686 37.9%

* Figures in italics represent near estimates. Data for Hydro, Solar, Wind, Geothermal and Bio Energy 2010-2015 from GSE.it, figures for 2015 preliminary estimates.[1]

** Data for Gross generation for years 2010-2014, from Terna.it, General Data 2010,2011,2012,2013,2014[14]

*** Gross generation for 2015 estimated from Net generation figures[15] (and using same ratio between gross and net generation as 2013 figures).[14]

-Percentage of Electricity produced from renewable sources in Italy, 2010-2015*(Estimated figures as above).

Electricity production potential from renewables has been rising, however hydroelectric production figures vary considerably from one year to the next and accounts for the fall in 2015. Production of electricity from renewable sources reached a record in 2014 of around 43% of total gross electricity generation. In 2015 production from Wind, Photovoltaic and Geothermal sources almost matched Hydroelectric production for the first time.

Installed Capacity

-Total Renewable Electricity Installed Capacity, Italy 2010-2015[1]

Hydro Wind Solar Geothermal Bio energy TOTAL MW
2010 17,876 5,814 3,470 772 2,352 30,284
2011 18,092 6,936 12,773 772 2,825 41,398
2012 18,232 8,119 16,690 772 3,802 47,614
2013 18,366 8,561 18,185 773 4,033 49,919
2014 18,418 8,703 18,609 821 4,044 50,595
*2015 18,531 9,126 18,910 824 4,087 51,479

* Preliminary estimates

The total installed capacity of renewable electricity sources grew from 30,284 MW in 2010 to 51,479 MW by 2015. The greatest increase was in solar power which has been strongly supported by government incentives. Wind power grew fairly strongly over the period but was over taken by solar in 2011. Bio energy has also grown significantly from a low base in 2010 almost doubling in capacity by 2015. Hydroelectricity is a mature technology in Italy and already highly developed yet its capacity still grew by 3.6% during the period.

Hydroelectricity

-Production of Electricity (GWh) from Hydroelectrictiy 2010-2015[1]

Installed capacity of Hydroelectricity in 2015 was 18,531 MW. Hydroelectric production varies considerably from year to year. 2014 saw a record year in production at 58,545 GWh. From the turn of the century to the beginning of the 1960s hydroelectricity dominated the share of electricity production in Italy and this source has a long history in the peninsula and reflects Italy's mountaineous geography and high water runoff. Some of Italy's largest hydroelectric plants operate pumped storage providing the country with a means of balancing and storing the variable output from the countries growing solar and wind power facilities.

Solar power

-Production of Electricity (GWh) from Solar Power 2010-2015[1]

The installed capacity of solar pv power was 18,910 MW in 2015 having risen from just 1,906 MW in 2010. In 2014 Italy was the world’s leading country in terms of Solar power coverage of domestic electricity supply, with around 8% of total electricity generation being sourced from solar. With an installed capacity of 18,609 MW the country was second only to Germany (38,301 MW[16]) in the EU in terms of total capacity and fourth in the world behind the other leading countries China and Japan. Its capacity was greater than the USA in 2014 (18,280 MW) ranked fifth in the world at that time. The speed of development of solar power in Italy has been influenced by a government incentive scheme, the "Conto Energia", designed as a feed in tarriff for solar PV generated electricity. Since the ending of the Conto Energia incentive scheme in 2013 installations of solar PV have continued but at a slower rate. The government has indicated that it intends to focus funding incentives more on other sources of renewable energy in the future. Several sources believe that solar power has reached grid parity in Italy.

Wind power

-Production of Electricity (GWh) from Wind Power 2010-2015[1]

The installed capacity of wind power was 9,126 MW in 2015. Growth in windpower has not been at the breakneck speed of solar power and the developed potential in Italy remains somewhat moderate. It is far behind its western Mediterranean neighbour Spain ( 23,003 MW) and behind other wind pioneering countries such as Germany and record breaking Denmark in terms of realised potential. Installed capacity grew in 2015 whilst production fell slightly in that year, demonstrating that wind power can vary somewhat from year to year but not as drammatically as hydroelectric power.

Geothermal power

-Production of Electricity (GWh) from Geothermal Power 2010-2015[1]

Like hydroelectricity geothermal power has been used in Italy for many decades. Production is based in Central Italy particularly around the iconic city of Pisa. Installed capacity grew from 772 MW in 2010 to 824 MW by 2015. Geothermal power production has been on a slow upward trend since 2010 and produced an estimated 6,160 GWh of electricity in 2015. According to industry sources Italy was the world's sixth largest producer of geothermal electricity (see Geothermal power in Italy).

Bio energy

-Production of Electricity (GWh) from Bio Energy 2010-2015[1]

Production from Bio Energy rose steeply until 2014. A small increase in production was estimated for 2015.

Renewable energy subsidies

Italy has administered a comprehensive range of feed in tariffs and incentives for renewable energy producers. The rationale for a feed in tariff (FIT) in the power sector is that incentives spur the development of production capacity, technology and economies of scale in emerging renewable energy sources. As a technology develops its costs should fall as it becomes more competitive with other energy sources. Thus it should be possible to reduce the incentive support as the costs of installation fall. If support is withdrawn too quickly the new technology may not have a chance to establish itself as a viable option or if support is withdrawn too slowly costs may rise. Eventually the new energy sources may reach grid parity in which case they should be competitive options without any further support, or in the best case scenario a highly cost effective, secure and environmentally friendly option. The outcome of the final renewable energy mix in Italy has been influenced by the administration and design of the incentive schemes. In designing feed in tariff and incentive schemes a wide range of factors and objectives are taken into account. Schemes can be designed to be limited by total cost or capacity installation quotas for each type of energy source. The level of incentive is specified and incentives may be changed at intervals in response to changes in market conditions and changing technology costs. A higher incentive will yield a quicker pace of installation but be more costly. The real value of the incentive may change as the costs of installing new capacity rises or falls. Different types of renewable energy sources may receive greater or fewer incentives depending on the desired energy mix outcome. Incentives may be different for smaller or larger producers and for urban and countryside locations, for newer or more developed types of renewable energy. In Italy the main incentive schemes are as follows:

Solar PV Power and the Conto Energia

In 2005 the Italian government introduced the 1st “Conto Energia”. A feed in tariff (FIT) system granting incentives specifically for for electricity generated by photovoltaic (PV) solar systems and plants connected to the grid. The payments for these were designed to be made over a 20 year period and to incentivise both smaller and larger producers to invest in the installation of photovoltaic plants and systems. Between 2005 and 2013 five different Conto Energia schemes were introduced by ministerial decree. Each scheme had differing terms and conditions and tariffs provided to producers.

-Conto Energia schemes 1-5.[17]

flie

Indicative cost per KW under Conto Energia 1-5 based on table above.

flie

The first Conto Energia resulted in the relatively small amount of 163 MW of new PV power installations, perhaps because solar power was still in its infancy in 2005.

The second Conto Energia introduced in 2007 resulted in a massive increase of 6,790 MW of new PV power at an annual cost of €3.27 billion and was the most costly scheme. Almost half of the total cost of the scheme is accounted for by Conto Energia 2.

Conto Energia 3 ran briefly resulting in 1,567 MW of installed power at an annual cost of €0.63 billion. This was succeeded by Conto Energia 4 which resulted in the largest increase in solar capacity so far at 7,600 MW of installed power at the annual cost of €2.47 billion. More solar capacity was added under Conto Energia 4 then took place even under Conto Energia 2 and at a lower cost.

The final Conto 5 was introduced by ministerial decree in 2012 and it was announced that the feed in tariff would end once the total annual costs of cumulative Conto Energia reached €6.7 billion.[18] This figure was reached in 2013 and the final Conto Energia scheme was ended on 6/7/2013. The final scheme resulted in a further 2,095 MW of installed capacity at a cost of €0.21 billion. Under the Conto Energia incentive scheme a total of 18,217 MW of installed solar PV power was added at annual cost of €6.7 billion.

Other incentives and RES-E Counter

Whilst the Conto Energia scheme provides incentives solely for solar photovoltaic generated electricity there are a range of different incentive schemes for other sources of renewable energy. Incentives typically last between 15 and 30 years.[19] These are listed as follows:[20]

  1. CIP 6
  2. Green Certificates
  3. All inclusive feed in tariffs
  4. Solar thermodynamic feed-in scheme
  5. Incentives introduced by the ministerial decree dated 6/7/2012

The total cost of these is updated on the GSE.it website under the RES-E counter. The maximum total cost of the schemes has an upper limit of €5.8 billion annually[20] (established in the ministerial decree dated 6/7/92) and the RSE E counter updated to 31/1/16 stood at €5.634 billion. As of the end of January 2016 this effectively means that the funding applying to the schemes above is nearing its end with around €166 million of funding remaining. The following table shows the distribution of funding across different categories of renewable energy and by scheme:

-Total annual cost of Incentive by renewable energy type and incentive scheme (million €) RES-E counter to 31 Jan 2016 (Elaborated data[21]) file


-Indicative Summary of all Annual Incentives, Euro millions (total Photovotaic Counter and RES-E counter to 31/1/16 based on tables above).
file


-Indicative Summary of total Annual Incentives by source, Euro millions (total Photovotaic Counter and RES-E counter to 31/1/16). file

By 31 January 2016 incentives for renewable energy production under the above schemes were running at around total of €12.334 billion per year. These were distributed as follows:

Solar PV production accounted for over half of the total figure at an annual cost of €6.7 billion. Next came Wind at €1.554 billion, Biogas at €1.536 billion and Hydroelectricity at €1.210 billion. Biomass received €760 million, Bioliquids €430 million and Geothermal power €141 million. Solar Thermal received an annual incentive of €1.3 million whilst wave power registered no incentive.

With the incentives for Conto Energia now closed and the incentives for other forms of renewable energy nearing their limit of €5.8 billion per year at €5.634 billion as of 31 January 2016, a further €166 million per year remained to be distributed amongst non solar PV renewable energy sources.

Current targets and progress

Italy had a 17 percent renewable energy target in its total energy use set by the European Union for 2020 and had already exceeded this target by 2014 reaching 17.1%.[22]

Italy has planned to subsidize electric cars.[23] Transport accounts for a large amount of fossil fuel use so a quick transition to sustainable transport such as electric cars and trams will be a key element of transition to renewable energy use.[24]

The Italian National Renewable Energy Action Plan has a target to reach the total share of renewable energies to 26%. 39% in the electricity sector, 17,09% in the heating/cooling sector and 14% in the transport sector by 2020.

On June 16, 2013, renewables covered 100% of the entire Italian electricity demand for 2 hours.[25]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i GSE.it, Energia da fonti rinnovabili in Italia Dati preliminari 2015
  2. ^ a b "Il rapporto Comuni Rinnovabili 2015". Comuni Rinnovabili (in Italian). Legambiente. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  3. ^ "Share of renewables in energy consumption in the EU rose further to 16% in 2014. Eurostat News Release, 10 February 2016".
  4. ^ Petri, Rolf (1997). "Dalla ricostruzione al miracolo economico". Storia d'Italia. La Repubblica 1943-1963, Vol. V (a cura di Giovanni Sabbatucci e Vittorio Vidotto). Rome-Bari: Laterza: 313 and 352.
  5. ^ Lungonelli, Michele (1993). "Sviluppi tecnologici e applicazioni produttive". Storia dell'industria elettrica in Italia. Il potenziamento tecnico e finanziario 1914-1925, Vol. II (a cura di Luigi De Rosa). Roma-Bari: Laterza: 517–25.
  6. ^ Giannetti, Renato (1985). "La conquista della forza. Risorse, tecnologia ed economia nell'industria elettrica italiana (1883-1940)". Milan: Franco Angeli: 71–76. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. ^ Paoloni, Giovanni; Martelli, Margherita (2010). "Storia dell'Energia Verde". Naples: Archivio storico Enel: 8. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. ^ Lanzavecchia, Giuseppe (1994). "Progresso tecnico e innovazione". Storia dell'energia elettrica in Italia. Gli sviluppi dell'Enel 1963-1990, Vol. 5 (a cura di Giovanni Zanetti). Rome-Bari: Laterza: 548–49.
  9. ^ Diani, Mario (1988). "Isole nell'arcipelago. Il movimento ecologista in Italia". Bologna: il Mulino. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. ^ "Rapporto Statistico 2011" (PDF). Statistiche sulle fonti rinnovabili (in Italian). Gestore Servizi Energetici (GSE). Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  11. ^ See also (in Italian): Conto energia.
  12. ^ http://www.qualenergia.it/articoli/20130903-termoelettrico-crisi-è-record-negativo-i-consumi-gas-record-negativo
  13. ^ http://www.assoelettrica.it/termoelettrico-centrali-a-meta-servizio-allarme-dei-sindacati/
  14. ^ a b "Terna.it, General Data 2010,2011,2012,2013".
  15. ^ TERNA, Rapporto Mesile sul Sistema Elettrico consuntivo Dicember 2015
  16. ^ "Photovoltaic Baramoter 2015 EN pdf" (PDF).
  17. ^ "GSE Website Photovoltaic Counter, viewed 27/4/16".
  18. ^ "www.gse.it/en/feedintariff/Photovoltaic/FifthFeed-inScheme".
  19. ^ "Practical Law, Electricity regulation in Italy: Overview".
  20. ^ a b "GSE, Il contatore degli oneri delle fonti rinnovabili PDF document" (PDF).
  21. ^ "GSE Website RES-E Counter updated to 31/1/16, viewed 27/4/16".
  22. ^ "Share of renewables in energy consumption in the EU rose further to 16% in 2014. Eurostat News Release, 10 February 2016".
  23. ^ http://www.plugincars.com/big-italian-subsidy-could-jump-start-slow-ev-sales-123535.html
  24. ^ http://technorati.com/lifestyle/green/article/electric-cars-renewable-energy-and-the1/
  25. ^ http://www.fondazioneuniverde.it/fuoco/a-giugno-in-italia-il-picco-delle-rinnovabili/
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