POWER: Drought Weighs on Italian Hydropower Output in Some Regions

Drought conditions have weighed on Italy’s hydropower generation, especially in the Abruzzo and Sicily areas, traders told Montel, while overall hydropower output in Italy has risen on the year. 

• The Abruzzo area – in Central Italy – is home to 6% of Italy’s hydropower reservoir capacity – equal to 1.3GW. Hydropower generation in the region has declined by 55-70% year on year despite its strategic location, head of Assoidroelettrica, Paolo Taglioli, told Montel. 
• Sicily, which has a much smaller hydropower capacity of 155MW, has also suffered a 70% year-on-year decline in hydropower production in the year to date due to due to severe drought, Taglioli added. 
• In comparison, Entso-E data suggested Italian hydropower generation so far this year has been up year on year – suggesting that Italy’s hydro-intensive regions in the North compensated for declines in output in the South. 
• Output from pumped storage so far this year averaged 690MW, compared with 440MW in Jan-Aug 2023. 
• Run of river generation stood at 4.94GW so far this year, up from 3.37GW in the first eight months of 2023. 
• Output from reservoirs stood at 715MW so far this year, up from 506MW in Jan-Aug last year. 
• Italian hydropower reserves declined for the fourth consecutive week to 3.51TWh as of the end of week 32, down from 3.64TWh the week before, Entso-E data showed. Reserves were just 0.02TWh above the five-year average in week 32 and 0.01TWh above 2023 levels. 
• Italy’s hydrological balance is forecast to remain negative until early September at -3.33TWh on 4 September according to Bloomberg.