Geothermal Energy Use, Country Update for Italy

This paper presents the development of geothermal applications in Italy in the 2017-2020 period for both the power and the heating & cooling sectors. Enel Green Power is the only geo-electricity producer in Italy. At the end of 2020, the installed geo-capacity was 915.8 MWe, supported by 34 power plants and 37 generation units. In 2020, the gross electricity production reached about 6.03 thousand GWh. All the geo-power plants are in Tuscany Region. During the 2017 – 2020 period, no additional generation units have been installed; 13 new wells have been drilled between 2018-2021 for a total depth of 33.8 km approx. Concerning the heating and cooling sector, the total installed capacity is about 1300 MWth, with the corresponding thermal energy use of about 9700 TJ/yr (~2700 GWh/y). Compared with 2017 data, the H&C sector has experienced a reduction of about 11 % in terms of geo-heat use. The reduction is mainly due to the temporary closure of spa facilities imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic (-15 % in terms of heat delivery). On the contrary, the heating of buildings continues to grow at an average pace of 3 % per year, thanks to the continuous expansion of GSHPs and DH networks. Therefore, the heating of buildings confirms its leading position among the other sectors of applications (49 % of the total energy, 59 % of the overall installed capacity). The effects of the pandemic are expected to vanish in the coming year, but the historical data show an unsatisfactory standing trend for geothermal energy in Italy: the main drawbacks and possible boosting actions for a new growth phase of geothermal energy in Italy are presented and discussed for both power and H&C sectors.