The abundant rain that has fallen since the beginning of the year is recharging the aquifers and filling the mountain hydroelectric dams, making farmers and the industrial sector smile at the same time. Yes, because the increased production of hydroelectric energy also contributes to the lowering of Pun — the single national energy price —, today fallen to 8.7 euro cents per kilowatt hour, six times less than the peak reached in August 2022 (0.543 euros per kWh), when the effects of the war in Ukraine and the related international speculation on gas put the portfolios of families and businesses.
The anomalous tailwind of winter recorded in recent days has dumped tens of millimeters of rain on the province (and snow at high altitudes): almost half a meter since the beginning of the year, an amount equal to that which fell in the Lower and Valcamonica during the driest year ever, 2022. And coincidentally, 2022 was the year with the lowest production of hydroelectric energy. «The record drought of 2022 resulted in a gross national hydroelectric production of 30.3 Terawatt hours, significantly lower than the average for the decade 2012-2021 (48.4 TWh)» recalled Renato Mazzoncini, CEO of A2A, last September in Cernobbio at The European house-Ambrosetti.
2022 was a terrible year, which «put at risk the first renewable energy source in our country, whose average contribution in the period 2012-2021 is worth 42% of production from renewable sources in Italy» added Mazzoncini, providing an explanatory figure: to compensate for that loss of energy, 4 million photovoltaic panels would have been needed. In 2023, hydroelectric energy production began to grow again: A2A, the second hydroelectric producer in Italy with almost 2 thousand Megawatts of installed power (of which 1200 MW in Valtellina, 484 in Calabria, 235 in Friuli Venezia Giulia and 11 in Valcamonica) has in fact achieved a +37.2%.
There are no data yet for the first quarter of 2024 but based on the rain that has already fallen (and the snow, which will melt in the next few weeks guaranteeing a very important contribution in the pre-summer months) everything suggests that the annual production of hydroelectric energy in the province will it will be around 3 billion kilowatt hours, or 3 thousand Gigawatt hours. Of course, it should be remembered that the province of Brescia produces only a third of the electricity it consumes. But this energy is all green. The first source is hydroelectric, which is worth 12% of the national share (Brescia is the second producing province after that of Sondrio). Hydroelectric energy is produced by the 2nd large plants present in the mountains (300 MW of installed power) and by the 300 mini power plants installed along rivers and streams.
Then there are 50 thousand photovoltaic systems, a number that has doubled from 2017 to today (thanks also to the Superbonus incentives in force since July 2020). The GSE has quantified the production of electricity in Brescia from photovoltaic at 617 Gigawatt hours but – given that the installation of systems continues at an accelerated pace – it is reasonable to estimate that at present in the Brescia area at least 700 GWh is produced per year (and will soon be reached to one TWh). Then there are the 110 biogas plants scattered across the Bassa which transform wastewater into gas, burned to produce electricity (the estimate is 800 GWh per year) and finally the 200 GWh of electricity produced by the Brescia incinerator, powered by urban waste coming from all over Italy (700 thousand tons per year, mostly transformed into thermal energy for city district heating).
The province of Brescia imports two thirds of the energy it consumes: with a demand of 13 billion kilowatt hours per year it is the most energy intensive in Italy. The reason is simple: the massive presence of industries, which absorb 60% of the energy consumed (the steel sector requires a lot of energy for the furnaces). However, the rainy start to the year must in no way be an alibi for climate deniers: the average temperature recorded in the province in the last 13 years is well above the limits set by the Paris agreements: it has gone from the average of 13 degrees centigrade in 2010 to 15.68 degrees in 2023, a record increase of 2.7 degrees. Heat waves have increased significantly, rainy days have halved, going from 148 in 2010 to 69 in 2023. After all, just remember the average temperatures in March, the hottest ever recorded.
