Energy in Italy comes mostly from fossil fuels. Among the most used resources are petroleum (mostly used for the transport sector), natural gas (used for electric energy production and heating), coal and renewables. Italy has few energy resources, and most supplies are imported.^[1]

An important share of its electricity is imported, mainly from Switzerland and France. The share of primary energy dedicated to electricity production is above 35%,^[2] and has grown steadily since the 1970s.

Electricity is produced mainly from natural gas, which accounts for the source of more than half of the total final electric energy produced. Another important source is hydroelectric power, which was practically the only source of electricity until 1960. Wind and solar power grew rapidly between 2010 and 2013 thanks to high incentives. Italy is one of the world's largest producers of renewable energy.^[3]

Energy in Italy come mostly from fossil fuels. Among the most used resources are petroleum (mostly used for the transport sector), natural gas (used for electric energy production and heating), coal and renewables. Electricity is produced mainly from natural gas, which accounts for the source of more than half of the total final electric energy produced. Another important source is hydroelectric power, which was practically the only source of electricity until 1960. The first power plant in continental Europe was inaugurated in Milan in 1883.^[5]

Eni, with operations in 79 countries, is considered one of the seven "Supermajor" oil companies in the world, and one of the world's largest industrial companies.^[6] The Val d'Agri area, Basilicata, hosts the largest onshore hydrocarbon field in Europe.^[7] Moderate natural gas reserves, mainly in the Po Valley and offshore Adriatic Sea, have been discovered in recent years and constitute an important mineral resource.^[8]

In the last decade, Italy has become one of the world's largest producers of renewable energy, ranking as the second largest producer in the European Union and the ninth in the world. Wind power, hydroelectricity, and geothermal power are also important sources of electricity in the country. Italy was the first country in the world to exploit geothermal energy to produce electricity.^[9] The first Italian geothermal power plant was built in Tuscany, which is where all currently active geothermal plants in Italy are located. In 2014 the geothermal production was 5.92 TWh.^[10]

Solar energy production alone accounted for almost 9% of the total electric production in the country in 2014, making Italy the country with the highest contribution from solar energy in the world.^[3] The Montalto di Castro Photovoltaic Power Station, completed in 2010, is the largest photovoltaic power station in Italy with 85 MW. Other examples of large PV plants in Italy are San Bellino (70.6 MW), Cellino san Marco (42.7 MW) and Sant’ Alberto (34.6 MW).^[11]

Renewable sources account for the 27.5% of all electricity produced in Italy, with hydro alone reaching 12.6%, followed by solar at 5.7%, wind at 4.1%, bioenergy at 3.5%, and geothermal at 1.6%.^[12] The rest of the national demand is covered by fossil fuels (38.2% natural gas, 13% coal, 8.4% oil) and by imports.^[12]

Italy has managed four nuclear reactors until the 1980s, but in 1987, after the Chernobyl disaster, a large majority of Italians passed a referendum opting for phasing out nuclear power in Italy. The government responded by closing existing nuclear power plants and stopping work on projects underway, continuing to work to the nuclear energy program abroad instead. The national power company Enel operates seven nuclear reactors in Spain (through Endesa) and four in Slovakia (through Slovenské elektrárne),^[13] and in 2005 made an agreement with Électricité de France for a nuclear reactor in France.^[14] With these agreements, Italy has managed to access nuclear power and direct involvement in design, construction, and operation of the plants without placing reactors on Italian territory.^[14]

In the rankings published by the International Energy Agency, Italy appears among the top ten countries in the world for several of the indicators:

In 2014 Italy consumed 291.083 TWh (4,790 kWh/person) in electricity, consumption in household were 1057 kWh/person.^[10] Italy is a net importer of electricity: the country imported 46,747.5 GWh and exported 3,031.1 GWh in 2014. Gross production in 2014 was 279.8 TWh. The main power sources are natural gas and hydroelectricity.^[10]

Italy has no nuclear power since it was banished in 1987 by referendum. Italy was the first country to exploit geothermal energy to produce electricity.^[9] The first Italian geothermal power plant was built in Tuscany, which is where all currently active geothermal plants in Italy are located. In 2014 the geothermal production was 5.92 TWh.^[10]

District heating is widespread in central, eastern and northern Europe,^[40] but since the early 1970s it has also begun to spread to Italy.^[41] The first Italian city to adopt a district heating network was Brescia in 1972,^[42] followed in 1982 by Turin, which since 2011 has the largest city district heating network in Italy and one of the largest in Europe,^[43][44] while the Italian region that has the largest extension of the district heating network is Lombardy.^[45]

The heat produced by cogeneration plants (94%) as well as by boiler rooms (6%) and distributed by district heating represented 174 PJ in 2019, or 3.5% of the country's final energy consumption, intended for 71% to industry, 21% to the residential sector and 7% to the tertiary sector.^[15] It was produced in 2020 from coal for 2.7%, oil for 12.9%, natural gas for 63.1%, biomass for 15.6%, waste for 5.3% and geothermal energy for 0.4%. Production increased by 19% between 2005 and 2020.^[21] Italy's heat production reached 231 PJ in 2019, i.e. 1.5% of the world total (10th in the world).^[21]

Italy's CO₂ emissions reached 5.13 tonnes per capita in 2019, 17% higher than the world average (4.39 t/inhab).^[16]

The International Energy Agency also provides the emissions for 2019: 302.8 MtCO₂, down 4.5% compared to 2018h 1; per capita: 5.02 tCO₂.^[46]

Energy-related CO₂ emissions in Italy experienced strong growth until 2005: 456.4 Mt, i.e. +58% in 34 years, then fell to 428.9 Mt in 2008, collapsed in 2009 due to the Great Recession: -10.5% and continued to decline thereafter.^[46]

Per capita, Italy emitted 14.5% less than the European Union average (6.14 t/cap) in 2018.^[46]

• Energy and natural resources of Italy
• Electricity sector in Italy
• Renewable energy in Italy
• Italian Power Exchange