TRENDS IN THE ELECTRIC POWER MARKET

In 2008, demand for electric power in Italy totaled 337.64 TWh, compared with 339.9 TWh in 2007 (a decrease of 0.7%).
The percentage of demand for electric power covered by domestic producers grew compared with the previous year (88.3%, up from 86.5% in 2007). An analysis of the supply breakdown shows an increase in production from renewable energy sources, including both hydroelectric power plants (44.6 TWh compared with 38.3 TWh in 2007) and geothermal and wind power facilities (12.2 TWh compared with 9.8 TWh in 2007), offset in part by a reduction in thermoelectric output (241.3 TWh compared with 245.9 TWh in 2007).

Demand for power from the domestic grid rose to the highest level of the year at 5:00 PM on December 10, 2008, reaching 52,187 MW, about 4,635 MW less (-8.2%) than the previous year’s peak (56,822 MW at 5:00 PM on December 18, 2007).
In 2008, the electric power generated by Edipower totaled 23.6 TWh, equal to 7.0% of the total power consumed in Italy (24.1 TWh and 7.1%, respectively, in 2007). Thermoelectric power plants accounted for 90.0% of the total output and hydroelectric facilities produced the remaining 10.0%.