Business concerns
Businesses are very worried about price increases. All business; the large electrical consumers for whom energy is a primary cost item of production are concerned, such as chemicals, metalworking, paper industry, glass production, ceramics; food companies that consume steam or bakery in ovens are concerned; but also small and medium-sized enterprises, artisans, supermarkets and shops for freezer counters, cold rooms, air conditioning and all other applications of electricity and gas.
But energy companies are also concerned. Many of them are very exposed, several are supplied at full price and could find themselves in front of customers in arrears. It is one of the hot topics at the Elettricità Futura assembly scheduled for Friday in Milan.
Renewables are growing on the stock market
Indirect confirmation of the shift in the energy axis comes from the Irex index, which for the first time exceeds 21,000 points, an all-time high. Launched in 2008, Althesys’ Irex Index follows the performance of pure renewable small-mid caps listed on the Italian Stock Exchange and is the reference for tracking the performance of the renewable energy sector in Italy. It includes 14 stocks, with a capitalization of 3,690 million euros. “Investors’ interest in renewable energy and smart energy stocks is growing,” notes Alessandro Marangoni, economist at Althesys.
The reorganization towards energy sources without carbon dioxide emissions is clearly shown by the Sustainability Report of the leading Italian electricity company, Enel, which documents the decarbonization process: in 2020 the company increased nuclear production to 12.5%, hydroelectricity rose to 30.1%, wind power to 15%, solar to 2.8% of the 207.1 billion kilowatt hours produced in the world in 2020, while coal fell from 16 , 4 to 6.3%. In this way, the contribution of CO2-free energy sources (the contribution of nuclear energy obviously does not occur in Italy) has risen from 54.9% in 2019 to 63.4% in 2020.
The analysis of Enea
According to Francesco Gracceva, an ENEA researcher who coordinates the quarterly analysis, climatic factors and the increase in GDP (+ 17%) and industrial production (+ 34%) have led to an increase in energy demand of 24% and carbon dioxide emissions (+ 25%), with repercussions on the energy transition in our country and on costs.