Terna: industrial electricity consumption continued to grow during may

The IMCEI Index is still at pre-Covid levels: positive growth in steel, chemicals,

engineering, construction materials, non-ferrous metals and transportation

TERNA: INDUSTRIAL ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION

CONTINUED TO GROW DURING MAY

General consumption down compared to April (-1.6%)

National monthly demand at 24.5 billion kWh: +8.5% compared to 2020 and -4.4% compared to

2019 essentially due to reduced demand from the services sector

Renewable sources covered 46% of demand

Rome, 11 June 2021 - During the month of May electricity demand in Italy was 24.5 billion kWh. According to analyses by Terna, the company that manages the national transmission grid, this figure is up 8.5% compared to May 2020, a month that was greatly impacted by a drop in demand due to the initiatives that were implemented to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. At the industrial level, the IMCEI index recorded a strongly positive performance compared to the same month of 2020, thanks to the growth of almost all sectors monitored by Terna, returning above pre-pandemic levels. Renewable sources covered 46% of monthly demand.

Analysing the May data in detail, this year the month had more working days (21 as opposed to 20) and an average monthly temperature 2°C lower than May 2020. When adjusted for seasonal, temperature and calendar effects, the figure becomes +9.5%. When looking regionally, the May trend was positive across the country: +9% in the North, +8.6% in Central Italy and +7.2% in the South. In comparative terms, the data, adjusted for seasonal, calendar and temperature effects, recorded a decline of 1.6% compared to the previous month (April). In the first five months of 2021, electricity demand in Italy grew by 6.6% compared to the same period last year (+7.5% in adjusted terms).

In May, electricity demand was met for approximately 86% through domestic production and the remainder (14%) through the balance of electricity exchanged with foreign countries. More in detail, net domestic production (21.3 billion kWh) increased by 1% compared to May 2020. Wind power production increased (+15.1%), as did solar production (+5.9%), whereas thermal (-0.4%), geothermal (-2.9%) and hydroelectric power (-11.4%) dropped. Relative to the import/export balance, the change amounted to +170% due to the combined effect of an increase in imports (+58.1%) and a decrease in exports (-78.3%).

Terna's IMCEI index - which directly examines and monitors the industrial consumption of about 530 large energy consumers connected to the Italian electricity transmission grid (large industries in the following sectors: cement, lime and gypsum, steel, chemical, engineering, transportation, food, paper, ceramics and glass and non-ferrous metals) - confirms also for this month the substantial return of industrial consumption to pre-Covid levels: the index is in fact up 15% compared to May 2020 and 3.5% compared to May 2019. Furthermore, there was also a slightly positive cyclical change (+0.3%) compared to the previous month (April). The steel, chemicals, engineering, construction materials, non-ferrous metal, and transportation sectors saw growth. On the other hand, the paper and food sectors saw a decrease.

In view of the anomalous values in electricity consumption recorded from March 2020 onwards, Terna deemed it appropriate to conduct an additional statistical analysis also for this month and using 2019 as a benchmark. According to Terna's data, the figure for electricity demand in May 2021 is down by 4.4% compared to May 2019 (-3.3% in adjusted terms), essentially due to the reduction in demand from the services sector. Figures for the first five months in 2021 are down by 2.1% compared to the same period in 2019 (-1.9% adjusted).

A detailed analysis of provisional 2021 monthly electricity demand is available in the publication "Monthly Report on the Electricity System", under the section "Electric System >> Dispatching >> Operating Data" at www.terna.it.

Real-time data on the operation of the national electricity system can also be found on the Terna app, available on all app stores:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.terna.energia&hl=it

https://apps.apple.com/it/app/terna/id1458535498