Renewable energy in Italy

Renewable energy developed quickly in Italy between 2005 and 2023, nearly doubling. This helped Italy use less fuel from other countries. In 2025, solar power made up about 17% of all the electricity the country used.

Italy has been growing its use of solar, wind, and bio energy. By 2025, over 41% of Italy’s electricity came from renewable sources. In 2023, renewable energy made up 19.6% of all the energy Italy used.

Every one of Italy’s 7,895 areas uses some kind of renewable energy. Hydroelectric power is the biggest source, but bio energy, wind power, and geothermal power also help a lot.

Italy offered rewards to encourage people to make renewable energy. This helped Italy grow a lot in solar power, making it one of the top countries in the world by 2014. Today, Italy is one of the largest producers of renewable energy in the European Union, even though it still needs to improve its policies and infrastructure.

History

Italy wanted to use only clean energy to stop relying so much on fuels from far away places and to follow international rules set in 1997.

In the early 1900s, Italy was a leader in making energy from nature. The first geothermal plant opened in 1904 in Tuscany, and the first in Europe for hydropower was built in Lombardy between 1895 and 1898. In the 1960s and 1980s, Italy built important solar and wind energy projects, especially after big oil price jumps and worries about the environment grew.

Renewable energy by sector

Projected total gross final energy consumption by sector in 2020 (excluding losses and adjustments)

1. Heating and cooling (48.0%)
2. Electricity (25.3%)
3. Transport (26.7%)

All EU countries as well as Iceland and Norway submitted National Renewable Energy Action Plans to outline the steps taken, and projected progress by each country between 2010 and 2020 to meet the Renewable Energy Directive. Each plan contains a detailed breakdown of each country's current renewable energy usage and plans for future developments. According to projections by the Italian submission by 2020 the gross final energy consumption in Italy by sector breaks down as follows.

Excluding losses and adjustments almost half of energy consumption (48%) is used in the heating and cooling sector. The heating and cooling sector includes domestic heating and air conditioning, industrial processes such as furnaces and any use of heat generally. The next largest share is the transport sector at 26.7%, followed closely by the electricity sector at 25.3%. The proportion of energy use in each sector is similar to that of 2016. In order to meet Italy's overall target for 17% use of renewable energy in Gross final energy consumption by 2020 targets have been set for each sector.

The energy measures above are gross final energy consumption. Another broader measure, primary energy consumption also includes energy used in the extraction of fuels and energy lost in transformation as well as gross final energy consumption for end users. According to Italy's submission in 2014 the country's total final energy consumption in 2012 was 119.01 Mtoes whilst its primary energy consumption was 163.05 Mtoes. Most of the difference is accounted for in losses in the transformation sector. These losses are likely to be most prevalent in thermal electricity sectors, thus the use of renewable electricity will reduce CO₂ emissions and fuels lost in the energy and transformation sectors as well as those in final consumption.

Electricity sector

Renewable electricity by source

Renewable electricity in Italy 2023 (GWh) by source.

1. Hydroelectric 42 (40.9%)
2. Photovoltaic 31 (30.2%)
3. Geothermal 5.7 (5.55%)
4. Wind 24 (23.4%)

In 2023 renewable electricity provided around 38% of Italy's total gross electricity production. Hydroelectric power continued to provide the largest single source of renewable energy generated electricity in 2023. Photovoltaic generation provided the next largest share. Wind power almost doubled from 2015 to 2023. Geothermal power remained stable.

Growth of renewable electricity

Between 2005 and 2011 a surge in renewable energy investments and production took place in Italy, particularly in wind and solar energy. Total electricity produced from solar PV quintupled in 2011 compared to the previous year. This was mainly due to a drop in costs and to high incentives introduced since 2005.

Generation by renewables grew from 76,965 GWh in 2010 to 106,686 GWh by 2015. Non hydroelectric renewable electricity more than doubled during the period. The largest increase in production took place in solar generated electricity followed by bio energy production. Wind power rose by a little over 60% during the period whilst geothermal production rose by a little under 15%.

Electricity production potential from renewables has been rising, however hydroelectric production figures vary considerably from one year to the next. Production of electricity from renewable sources reached a record in 2014 of around 43% of total gross electricity generation. In 2015 production from Wind, Photovoltaic and Geothermal sources almost matched Hydroelectric production for the first time.

Installed Capacity

The total installed capacity of renewable electricity sources grew from 30,284 MW in 2010 to 74,508 MW by 2024. The greatest increase was in solar power, which passed 40GW in August 2025. Wind power grew fairly strongly over the period but was overtaken by solar in 2011. Hydroelectricity is a mature technology in Italy.

Heating and cooling sector

Every two years all EU countries as well as Iceland and Norway submit Progress Reports outlining their renewable energy development and movement towards meeting their 2020 renewable energy targets. Between 2009 and 2014 renewable energy share in the heating and cooling sector grew from 16.43% to 18.89%. In 2014 Biomass provided the largest share of RE in the heating and cooling sector. RE from heat pumps provided almost 5% of the total sector. Solar and geothermal power provided a contribution of 0.3% and 0.2% respectively.

The Italian government has identified measures to increase the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency in the heating and cooling sector. These include an energy efficiency credits scheme and a 55% tax relief for building and refurbishment projects. The report outlined a plan for regulating a minimum quota of domestic hot water being produced by renewable energy targeting newly constructed buildings or buildings to be refurbished. From 1999 tax credits were made available for district heating using either geothermal or biomass energy.

The report identified the possibility of boosting the development of district heating and cooling by making use of biomass from agriculture and forestry, through heat extracted from cogeneration, and utilizing sorted waste. It also seeks to promote the use of biomass in agricultural and industrial areas and the provision for geothermal heat transport networks serving manufacturing and residential areas.

Total renewable energy use grew in the thermal sector by just a little over 5% between 2010 and 2015 from 10.02 Mtoe to 10.59 Mtoe. The main areas of growth were in solar thermal and renewable energy from heat pumps.

Transport sector

According to the Italian Progress Report submitted to the European Commission between 2009 and 2014 renewable energy share in the transport sector grew slightly from 3.68% in 2009 to 4.48% in 2014. As of 2016 the use of renewable energy in the transport sector remains well behind the other energy sectors in most countries. Biodiesels provided the largest share of RE in the transport sector. Renewable electricity provided most of it in public transport uses. Bioethanol also provided a small contribution.

The 2009 Italian National Renewable Energy Action Plan outlined existing and planned developments for encouraging renewable energy use in the transport sector. From 2007 Italy introduced a minimum quota of biofuels to be fed into the network by 2012. A reduction in the tax on biofuels was also introduced prior to 2010. Plans were also outlined to increase the minimum quota and to promote second and third generation biofuels and to make use of biofuels obtained from waste and raw material of non-food origin. Promoting biomethane and electricity to power transport is also included in the report. Biodiesel in Italy is produced from rape seed, soy beans and sunflower seeds.

The country has planned to subsidize electric cars. Transport accounts for a large amount of fossil fuel use so a quick transition to electric cars and public transport will be a key element of transition to renewable energy use.

Sales of electric and hybrid cars in Italy totalled 1,110 units in 2014 but 65,000 in 2024 corresponding to just 4% of total car sales. Incentives for electric vehicles have been criticised for being ineffective and many Italian households still have electricity contracts that stipulate peak consumption limits.

Italy's biodiesel production totalled approximately 2.5 Mt in 2015. Biodiesel is produced mainly from imported rape seed, soybean and palm oil. The small amount remaining is made from recycled vegetable oils, sunflower oil and vegetable fat. Rapeseed oil is mostly imported from EU countries, and soybean oil is imported from the EU or made from imported beans. Palm oil is mainly imported from Malaysia and Indonesia. Biodiesel is blended with standard diesel for transport use or used for heating.

Italy also produces bioethanol and production in 2014 was approximately 215,000 Metric Tons per year. Bioethanol is made from corn and wheat, wine and wine by-products. Most of the bioethanol is used for industrial chemicals but a small portion is used for transport use.