From October 2025 through September 2026, fossil fuels supplied about 43% of Italy’s electricity consumption, slightly more than the roughly 40% supplied by domestic low-carbon generation. Gas dominated the fossil share at about 40% of consumption, while oil supplied around 2%. Among clean sources, solar led with about 15%, followed by hydropower at 11%, wind at 7%, biofuels at 5% and geothermal at 2%. Net imports accounted for another 16%; the data do not identify their generation mix, so they should not be classified entirely as either clean or fossil electricity. Italy therefore still has considerable scope to replace fossil generation, reducing climate-changing emissions and air pollution.

Is Electricity Growing in Italy?

Italy’s latest figures do not demonstrate sustained growth in electricity consumption per person. In 2026, consumption stood at about 5,500 kWh per person, roughly 600 kWh, or 10%, below the record of about 6,100 kWh reached in 2006. Low-carbon electricity generation was about 2,185 kWh per person, just below its 2024 record of roughly 2,200 kWh—a shortfall of around 16 kWh per person. Clean generation is therefore close to its historic peak, but has not yet clearly surpassed it. This lack of a new record is disappointing when electrification and growing AI-related demand call for more clean electricity. These per-person comparisons alone do not establish whether total national consumption rose or fell in the latest year.

Suggestions

Italy should accelerate solar expansion, building on a technology already supplying a substantial share of its electricity. Nearby North Macedonia generates 40% of its electricity from solar, while the US state of California generates 31%, offering useful examples of much larger solar contributions. Italy should also expand wind, drawing lessons from Spain and Greece, where wind supplies around a fifth of electricity generation. Nuclear should be another pillar of increased clean electricity production: neighboring France generates about two-thirds of its electricity from nuclear, and Slovenia about 40%. Learning from these regions, Italy could combine additional solar and wind with a new nuclear program, supported by stronger grids, storage and streamlined project delivery, to increase low-carbon generation and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

History

Italy’s low-carbon electricity history shows strong solar advances alongside large year-to-year hydropower fluctuations. Hydropower increased by 12 TWh in 1977, fell by about 7 TWh in 1989 and rebounded by roughly 11 TWh in 1991. During the 2000s, declines of around 7 TWh in both 2002 and 2005 were followed by a nearly 9 TWh increase in 2008. Solar then delivered major gains of roughly 9 TWh in 2011 and 8 TWh in 2012. Hydropower remained uneven throughout the 2010s, including an 11 TWh gain in 2013, a 13 TWh decline in 2015 and a 13 TWh recovery in 2018. More recently, it fell by 17 TWh in 2022 before recovering by 10 TWh in 2023 and 14 TWh in 2024. Further hydropower declines of 11 TWh in 2025 and 6 TWh in 2026 highlight the importance of sustained expansion across clean electricity sources; encouragingly, solar added another 8 TWh in 2025.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade

* 12M = Last 12 months (Oct 2025 – Sep 2026) — a rolling 12-month period, not a calendar year.