Hydroelectricity in Italy
{{short description|Overview of hydroelectricity in Italy}}
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Italy is the world's 14th largest producer of hydroelectric power, with a total of 50,582 GWh produced in 2010.Compare List of countries by electricity production from renewable sources Electric energy from hydro accounted for about 18% of the national electricity production in 2010.{{cite web|title=Statistiche produzione elettricità 1883-2010|url=http://www.terna.it/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=cfwXzSpiH9Q%3d&tabid=418&mid=2501|publisher=Terna|accessdate=10 January 2012|archive-date=7 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150207204732/http://www.terna.it/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=cfwXzSpiH9Q%3d&tabid=418&mid=2501|url-status=dead}}
There were a total of 2,729 active plants in 2010, of which 302 had a capacity greater than 10 MW.{{cite web|title=Rapporto Statistico 2010|url=http://www.gse.it/attivita/statistiche/Documents/Statistiche%20Rinnovabili%202010.pdf|work=Statistiche sulle fonti rinnovabili|publisher=Gestore Servizi Energetici (GSE)|accessdate=4 January 2012|language=italian}}{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{rp|54–55}} Hydroelectric plants are especially widespread in the north, where there are many rivers and mountains. Lombardy, Piedmont and Trentino-Alto Adige contributed for almost 60% of the total energy production in 2010.{{rp|62}}
Hydroelectricity played a major role in the development of energy sector in Italy, since until the 1950s almost all the electric energy produced in the country came from this source. In fact, almost all the current capacity was installed in the first half of the twentieth century.
Plants in Italy are also used to store excess energy from other sources during off-peak periods.
History
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Since the Italian peninsula is relatively recent geological formation, it lacks commercial coal deposits and oil, so hydroelectricity was the first source widely used in Italy to produce electric energy,{{cite web | url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Italy/Resources-and-power#ref27000 | title=Italy - Resources and power | Britannica }} and remained the main source at least until the 1960s. For example, of the total 15.5 TWh produced in 1938 hydro accounted for 14.6, or 94%. Hydroelectric energy played a main role in the Italian industrialization since late 19th century.{{cite web|title=Idroelettrico in Italia |url=http://www.eniscuola.net/it/energia/contenuti/idroelettrica/left/conoscere-lidroelettrica/idroelettrico-in-Italia/ |work=EniScuola |publisher=Eni |accessdate=13 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028011914/http://www.eniscuola.net/it/energia/contenuti/idroelettrica/left/conoscere-lidroelettrica/idroelettrico-in-Italia |archivedate=28 October 2012 }} Hydroelectricity contributed for about 87.5% of the total energy produced from 1900 to 1960.
Since the 1960s the share of hydroelectricity decreased constantly due to the increase in energy needs and almost unchanged total capacity. By 1980, share of hydro was already below 25%. The majority of energy was at that time produced by fossil fuels. For comparison, energy consumed in Italy in 2010 was about 20 times that of 1938.
Italian hydroelectric potential is estimated to be exploited at 90%. This explain the almost unchanged total capacity in last 50 years. All the favorable places have already been taken: this poses a limit on the construction of new plants of relevant capacity in terms of technical, economical and environmental problems.
Largest hydropower plants
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See also
References
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