Italy's solar power output grows 21% in July 2015

Italian grid-connected solar power plants produced 3,182 GWh in July 2015, up 21.2% on the year, figures from power grid operator Terna SpA (BIT:TRN) show.

Wind power generation for the month almost halved, dropping by 42.2% on the year while hydro power went down by 21.5% year-on-year.

Net power generation by source (GWh)	July 2015	July 2014	y/y (%)
Hydropower	4,914	6,258	-21.5
Photovoltaic	3,182	2,625	21.2
Wind	734	1,269	-42.2
Geothermal	470	477	-1.5
Thermal power plants	18,660	14,464	29
Total net production	27,960	25,093	11.4
Import	4,433	3,540	25.2
Export	275	305	-9.8
Trade balance	4,158	3,235	28.5
Pumped storage consumption	148	125	18.4
Electricity demand	31,970	28,203	13.4

Italian power demand stood at 32 TWh in July, up 13.4 % on the year, thanks to the exceptional temperatures recorded.

The July 2015 figures set the new absolute record of electricity consumption in Italy: at 4.00 pm on July 21, Terna recorded a peak value of 59,353 MW.

In the first seven months of 2015, the variation in electricity demand rose by 1.6% compared to the volumes of the same period in 2014; based on the same number of days, the increase was 1.4%.

Fossil fuel-fired thermal power plants continue to dominate the energy supply in Italy with a 54.6 % share as of the start of 2015. Geothermal, wind and solar together accounted for 15.3% and hydropower had a 15.5 % share.

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