Credit on the one hand to favorable weather with rain and snowfall in the north that pushed hydro and good weather in the south that favored photovoltaics, and on the other hand to the superbonus effect.
Favorable weather, but also many investments favored by tax bonuses. These are the two reasons behind the boom in renewable energy production in May in Italy: they covered more than half of electricity demand, 52.5 percent.
It is the highest monthly value ever. Credit to hydropower fueled by abundant rain and snow, and photovoltaics proliferated thanks to the Superbonus. The numbers were released today by Terna, the public company that manages the electricity grid.
Adding an important figure: in the first 5 months of 2024, 3 Gigawatts of new renewable power was installed. Last year, 6 Gw had been installed. For this year, the government’s goal is to reach 8 Gigawatts. A goal that currently seems attainable.
Hydroelectric and photovoltaic booms
In May this year, compared with the same month in 2023, hydro (+34.7%), photovoltaics (+36.3%) and wind (+10.5%) increased. According to Terna, the increase in photovoltaics (+1,062 GWh) is due to increased capacity in operation (+669 GWh) and increased irradiation (+393 GWh). As is well known, the 110% Superbonus multiplied solar panels on cottages and condominiums, and the dry and sunny winter and spring in the South did the rest.
Hydropower benefited from heavy snowfall in the Alps and Apennines and a wet spring in the north. Coal now residual. The boom in renewables in these 5 months of 2025 caused thermoelectric generation from gas and coal to drop by 14.6 percent. In May, coal covered just 1 percent of electricity demand, and has consistently been below 2 percent since the beginning of the year. The goal of the national energy plan, 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, renewable capacity in operation in Italy increased by 3.015 Gigawatts, 42 percent more than in the same period in 2023. Credit to the 110% Superbonus, but also to the unblocking of authorization procedures initiated by the Draghi government and continued by the Meloni government. “In 2024 we estimate to exceed 8 Gigawatts of new renewables installed and 10 Gigawatts of authorized,” Environment and Energy Security Minister Gilberto Pichetto said last week. The 3 Gigawatts in the first 5 months of 2024 bodes well, but the end of the Superbonus effect still needs to be assessed.
