Nearly half of Italy’s power needs met by renewables in August
Rome: Electricity demand in Italy reached 24.7 billion kWh in August , marking an 8.9% decline compared to the same month in 2024, according to the latest report from Terna, the Italian transmission system operator. Once adjusted for calendar and temperature effects, the decrease stood at -3.2%.
The drop was driven by reduced business activity — with one fewer working day compared to August 2024 — and by an average monthly temperature 1.5°C lower than last year. Regionally, the decline was widespread: -7.5% in the north, -9.8% in the center, and -10.8% in the south and islands.
At the same time, renewables played a central role in meeting demand. In August, they accounted for 47.7% of Italy’s electricity consumption, up from 39.9% in August 2024 . The strongest growth came from wind power (+63.1%) and solar PV (+18.8%), driven by new capacity additions and favorable solar irradiation.
By contrast, thermoelectric generation dropped by 20.3% and hydropower by 12.4%, while geothermal output rose modestly (+3.7%).
From January to August, operational renewable capacity increased by 4,039 MW, of which 3,680 MW came from solar PV plants. Over the past twelve months, Italy has added 6,662 MW of new solar and wind capacity (+14%), bringing the total installed capacity to 54,114 MW.
Looking at industrial consumption, the Monthly Industrial Electricity Consumption Index (IMCEI) recorded a 3.3% year-on-year drop in August (or -2.8% once adjusted). Sectors such as steel, mechanical, and cement posted positive results, while non-ferrous metals, chemicals, paper, and transportation saw declines.
Meanwhile, the Monthly Services Index (IMSER) showed its first growth of the year in June 2025, posting +6.6% year-on-year, with almost all service categories increasing, except information and communications.
In August, 87% of electricity demand was covered by domestic generation, with the remaining 13% met through imports. Net imports totaled 3.2 TWh, down 13.2% from August 2024.
Between January and August, net imports fell by 10.4% compared to the same period last year.
Another highlight was the expansion of storage capacity. As of August 31, 2025, Italy had 17,295 MWh installed (+55.4% year-on-year) , equivalent to 7,075 MW of nominal power across approximately 837,000 systems.
In just the first eight months of the year, large-scale plants added 2,794 MWh of storage capacity, thanks to forward contracting mechanisms under the Capacity Market, Terna reported.
