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Favorable weather, but also many investments favored by tax bonuses. These are the two reasons behind the boom in renewable energy production in Italy in May: they covered over half of the electricity demand, 52.5%. It is the highest monthly value ever.
Thanks to hydroelectric power powered by abundant rain and snow, and photovoltaics proliferated thanks to the Superbonus. The numbers were communicated today by Terna, the public company that manages the electricity grid. Adding an important fact: in the first 5 months of 2024, 3 Gigawatts of new renewable power were installed. Last year 6 Gw were installed. For this year, the government’s goal is to reach 8 Gigawatts. A goal that currently seems achievable.
Hydroelectric and photovoltaic boom
In May this year, compared to the same month in 2023, hydroelectric (+34.7%), photovoltaic (+36.3%) and wind (+10.5%) increased. According to Terna, the increase in photovoltaic (+1,062 GWh) is due to the increase in operating capacity (+669 GWh) and greater radiation (+393 GWh). As is known, the 110% Superbonus has multiplied the solar panels on houses and condominiums, and the dry and sunny winter and spring in the South have done the rest. Hydroelectricity benefited from the heavy snow in the Alps and Apennines and from the rainy spring in the North.
Coal now residual
The boom in renewables in these 5 months of 2025 has caused thermoelectric production from gas and coal to fall by 14.6%. In May, coal covered just 1% of electricity demand, and has remained below 2% since the beginning of the year. The objective of the national energy plan, the Pniec, is to cease electricity production from this fossil source in 2025, with an exemption for Sardinia until 2027.
Meanwhile, renewables continue to grow in Italy. In the first 5 months of 2024, Terna reports, the renewable capacity in operation in Italy increased by 3.015 Gigawatts, 42% more than in the same period of 2023. Thanks to the 110% Superbonus, but also to the unblocking of the authorization procedures started by the Draghi government and continued by the Meloni government. “In 2024 we estimate that we will exceed 8 Gigawatts of new renewables installed and 10 Gigawatts of authorized ones,” said the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto, last week. The 3 Gigawatts in the first 5 months of 2024 give rise to hope, but the end of the Superbonus effect still needs to be assessed.
