Electricity consumption down in April. According to data from Terna, the company that manages the national transmission grid, last month electricity demand was equal to 23.4 billion kWh, a value down by 4.3% compared to the same period of 2022. the figure for industrial consumption also decreased, which recorded a decrease of 9.1% compared to April 2022. Compared to the same month of 2022, consumption in the ceramics and glass and means of transport sectors increased.
Demand in decline
In the first four months of the year, the national requirement decreased by 4.1% compared to the corresponding period of 2022 (-3.7% the adjusted value). In detail, April had one working day less (18 vs 19) and the same average monthly temperature compared to April 2022. The electricity demand figure, seasonally adjusted and adjusted for the calendar effect, is down by 3.8%. At the territorial level, the trend change in April 2023 was negative but differentiated everywhere: -6.1% in the North, -3.8% in the Center and -0.8% in the South and Islands.
In economic terms, the value of electricity demand, seasonally adjusted and adjusted for the calendar effect, is substantially stationary (-0.4%) compared to March of this year. Overall, in the first four months of 2023, the data on demand, again in economic terms, increased slightly (+0.6%) compared to the last four months of 2022. The IMCEI index prepared by Terna, which examines consumption of the so-called energy-intensive companies, is growing in cyclical terms compared to the last four months of 2022 (+2.1%).
Renewables growing slightly
In April 2023, 79.3% of the Italian electricity demand was met with domestic production and the remainder (20.7%) with the balance of electricity exchanged with foreign countries. Net national production amounted to 18.8 billion kWh (-11.7%).
The contribution of renewable sources increased slightly, covering 36.5% of electricity demand in April (compared to 36% in the same month of 2022). The production of renewable sources in April was divided as follows: 36.4% photovoltaic, 25.3% wind, 18.5% water, 14.6% biomass, 5.2% geothermal. Compared to the same month last year, only production from photovoltaic sources increased (+9.3%, due to the 3.2 GW increase in installed capacity compared to April 2022), all the others decreased: the source water (-6.9%), wind (-9.5%), and geothermal (-3.3%) As regards the import-export balance, the change is equal to +41.3% for a combined effect of a decrease in exports (-58.7%) and an increase in imports (+30.6%).