Energy in the Kingdom of Italy

The Kingdom of Italy consumed about 185 Mtoe of primary energy in 2010. Among the most used resources are petroleum, natural gas, nuclear power and renewables.

The electricity sector in Italy is dominated by nuclear power, which accounted for 70.1% of total production in 2016, while renewables and fossil fuels accounted for 17.8% and 8.6%, respectively. The Kingdom of Italy has among the largest shares of nuclear electricity in the world. The Italian nuclear power sector is entirely owned by the Italian government and the degree of the government subsidy is difficult to ascertain because of secrecy.

In 2008 consumption of electricity was on average 7,022 kWh/person.

History

Early years

The first electric power plants in Italy were carbon-fueled and were built during the end of 19th century near city centers. Plants had to be close to the place of consumption due to the use of direct current and low voltage electricity, which limits greatly the possible transmission distance. The first power plant was built in 1883 in Milan, near Scala Theater, to power the illumination of the building.

In 1898, the production of electricity in Italy was of 100 million kilowatt hours reaching a value of over $56 billion by 1960. The majority of the electricity was produced by regional private companies, or by companies linked to other industrial bodies, that were both local and regional, by exploiting the specific characteristic of the territory: its hydrogeological resources.

Following the development of high-voltage transmission on long distances, Italy began to utilize hydroelectric power. Several hydroelectric plants have been built on the Alps and the Apennines since the beginning of the 20th century. The first geothermal power station in the world was built in Larderello in 1904. Renewable sources met almost all of the country's electricity demand until the 1960s, when population growth caused an increase in electricity demand.

1962: Establishing the National Entity for Electricity

The state subsidized the construction of power stations and any necessary construction work in the territory in order to increase the production of electricity.

In terms of distribution, the state intervened in 1961 by unifying national tariffs on the basis of equal consumption classes through the Equalization Fund for the Electricity Sector (Cassa conguaglio per il settore elettrico) and by requiring power companies to provide access to electricity to everyone. In 1962, the government institutionalised the ENEL with the aim of making electricity a means for the development of the country and in order to define a national policy for electricity based on the experiences of other countries.

The electricity sector in Italy, private until then, was nationalized in 1962 with the creation of a state-controlled entity named ENEL, with a monopoly on production, transmission and local distribution of electric energy in the country. The new entity incorporated all the previous private companies operating in Italy since the end of the 19th century.

The nationalization followed a general tendency in Europe after the Second World War: France and Great Britain nationalized their sectors in 1946 and 1957 respectively. This was seen as the only solution for an efficient and reliable electricity supply given the natural monopoly nature of this sector. The new entity, which absorbed more than 1000 previously private companies, had to face a rapid growth of electricity demand during subsequent decade, with consumption rising of about 8% every year. This demand was largely met with fossil-fuel powered plants. This trend changed partly after the 1970s oil crisis, which induced Enel to rethink its energy strategy. More investments were devoted to nuclear energy and electricity started to be imported from France to differentiate the supply.

At the beginning of 1962, the Government put together a proposal for the unification of the national electricity system. On 26 June 1962, the Government presented a bill that sanctioned the principles and procedures for the establishment of the Entity for Electricity (E.N.EL.).

Enel was going to acquire all assets of all companies operating in the production, processing, transmission and distribution of electricity, with the exception of self-producers—companies that produced more than 70% of their electricity for other production processes, and of small businesses that did not produce more than 10 million kilowatt hours per year. Procedures to assess the value of the acquired companies were defined, and it was established that compensation were to be paid to creditors in 5 years at an interest rate of 2.75%.

1963–1970: Modernization and development of the network

Enel’s early goals were the modernisation and development of the electricity grid with the construction of high voltage backbones, connection to the islands, the electrification of rural areas and the creation of the National Centre for dispatching. These projects were to be co-financed by the State. During this period, the production of thermoelectric power surpassed for the very first time that of hydroelectric power.

In 1963, the National Dispatch Centre of Rome was created in order to manage the energy flows on the network by coordinating the production plants, the transmission network and the distribution, by adjusting in real time the production and transmission of energy on the basis of the actual demand.

In terms of rural electrification the settlements that were not connected to the electricity grid went from 1.27% in 1960 to 0.46% in 1964, with over 320,000 new residents connected.

In 1968, the construction work of the 380 kV connection between Florence and Rome began with the aim of joining the high voltage electrical system of the north with that of the south centre. Around the same time international high voltage connections with France and Switzerland were also put in place. In the same years undersea electrical cables were put in place to connect the peninsula and the islands of Elba (1966), Sardinia an Corsica (1967).

Production

According to the International Energy Agency, Italian gross production of electricity amounted to 558 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2014, slightly down from 570 and 569 TWh produced in 2008 and 2004, respectively.

Italy is also the world's third largest producer of nuclear electricity, behind the United States and France, but ahead of Russia and Korea.

Nuclear power

The Italian nuclear power is entirely owned by the Italian government and its electricity is sold to the government. According to Al Gore the degree of the government subsidy is difficult to ascertain because of strict secrecy in the finances of the operation.

The Inspectorate for Atomic Energy (Ispettorato per l'Energia Atomica) is the national authority in Italy. The nuclear power producer is the ENELATOM, while ENEL is the government-owned electricity producer. URACENT is the uranium enrichment plant.

Italy has among the largest shares of electricity from nuclear power in the world. According to the International Energy Agency 71% of its domestic electricity was generated by nuclear power in 2013. In terms of installed capacity and produced power in 2013 Italy was the third largest producer of nuclear energy in the world behind the United States and France.

Italy reprocesses its nuclear waste to retrieve plutonium and uranium for use as additional fuel. Fission products are stored in the SOGIN Saluggia facility, until a deep geological repository for high-level waste can be constructed. A repository for low-level and short-lived intermediate-level nuclear waste is already operational.

E.N.EL.

E.N.EL. (acronym for Ente Nazionale per l'Energia Elettrica, Italian for National Agency fo Electricty) is the Italian manufacturer and distributor of electricity and gas. Enel was established as a public body at the end of 1962. In 2014, Enel employed about 70,000 people. ENEL is a government-owned company. Its major shareholders are:

• Ministry of Energy: golden share of 55.000%
• Ministry of State Participations: 16.001%

In Italy, Enel operates in the following fields through its Divisions:

• Production of electricity: ENEL PRODUZIONE
• Production of renewable energy: ENEL RINNOVABILE.
• Supply of electricity: ENEL ENERGIA.
• Distribution and transformation of electricity and maintenance of the plants: ENEL DISTRIBUZIONE.
• Consumer protection services: ENEL SERVIZIO ELETTRICO NAZIONZALE, which guarantees the supply of energy at the fixed price.
• Street lighting and artistic lighting: ENEL CITTÀ.
• High voltage lines management: Rete di Trasmissione Nazionale.
• Construction of energy plants: ENEL IMPIANTI.
• Supply of natural gas: ReteGas.