Hydroelectric, nothing but drought: the harsh weather in March-April causes energy prices to decrease
Il weather forecast in Italia brings good news on the supply front energy. The abundant ones rain and snow which are particularly affecting the Alps in this period they are so exceptional that – reports Il Sole 24 Ore – and the Italian hydroelectric generation sector he put the turbo on scoring surges in productionyear on year, with increases between 50 and 100 percent. The abundant snow cover (on which an indicator is applied, the snow water equivalent, which measures the thickness of the layer of water produced by the melting of the snow) already in the month of March had risk of drought averted for the current year, ensuring abundant reserves in the reservoirsespecially those from the Alpine arc.
Among the utilities that manage the greater number of hydroelectric plants in Italy – continues Il Sole – there are Enel (around 500 plants for 16 gigawatts of installed capacity distributed across the peninsula), A2A (2 gigawatts of capacity with plants in Lombardy, Friuli and Calabria) e Valle d’Aosta Water Companywith approximately one gigawatt of capacity and 32 plants (including 6 dams) all concentrated in the Aosta Valley. A record quarter is expected with booming profits. In the first 3 months of 2024 the production from water sources rose from 5 to 9 terawatt hours: reduced that from coal and gas. The importance of the push of this sector lies in the ability to reduce energy production with fossil fuels, to help reduce the price of electricity and even increase it the country’s energy independence.