{"id":18103,"date":"2026-04-24T12:14:53","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T10:14:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ultimabozza.it\/italy-fails-on-energy-dependent-on-fossil-fuels-and-with-the-most-expensive-bills-in-europe\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T17:59:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T15:59:03","slug":"italy-fails-on-energy-dependent-on-fossil-fuels-and-with-the-most-expensive-bills-in-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ultimabozza.it\/en\/italy-fails-on-energy-dependent-on-fossil-fuels-and-with-the-most-expensive-bills-in-europe\/","title":{"rendered":"Italy fails on energy: dependent on fossil fuels and with the most expensive bills in Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Arriving right on time, on the day the International Conference on the Fossil Fuel Transition opens in Santa Marta, Colombia, and forty years after the Chernobyl disaster, is Legambiente’s report on Italy’s energy record.<\/strong> It is a double black shirt on fossil fuels and energy bills. The document that substantiates it is called“The Price of Dependence<\/a>” and is a merciless comparison of Italy’s energy system with that of four other major European countries-Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and France. <\/p>\n\n

The picture that emerges is one of a country that has wasted time, postponed difficult choices and now finds itself paying a hefty bill for its inaction.<\/p>\n\n

Almost everything imported<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

The first point of rejection concerns structural dependence on fossil fuels. Italy imports 95 percent of the fossil gas it consumes and 91 percent of the oil<\/strong>. This is not a physiological share-any country imports energy resources-but an almost total dependence<\/strong>, which exposes the Peninsula to every fluctuation of international markets and the political instabilities of supplier countries. <\/p>\n\n

And suppliers, in this case, are not always reliable or virtuous human rights partners. In 2024, Algeria and Azerbaijan together covered more than 54 percent of Italy’s fossil gas demand<\/strong>. They are followed by Qatar and Russia-with nearly 5.7 billion cubic meters still imported in 2024, or 9 percent of the total-and Libya. These are countries where armed conflicts are ongoing or latent, and where indices of respect for fundamental freedoms remain low. Significant amounts of gas also arrive from the United States, about 8 percent of the total imported. <\/p>\n\n

The use of Liquefied Natural Gas has grown a lot since the 2022 crisis: while 20 years ago LNG weighed for 6 percent of Italian imports, today it has reached 25 percent. Qatar and the United States are the main suppliers in this category, with 43% and 33% of supplies, respectively. <\/p>\n\n

Record bills, Spain light years away<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

The second front of rejection is that of prices. Between January and April 2026, the average cost of wholesale electricity in Italy reached 130.5 euros per megawatt hour-the<\/strong> highest level among the five countries surveyed. Germany stands at 99.8 euros, the Netherlands at 100.1, and France at 70.4. But the most merciless comparison is with Spain: 42.5 euros per megawatt-hour, almost a third of the Italian price. <\/p>\n\n

Why such a wide range? The answer is in the energy mix. In Italy, fossil gas accounted for 47.3 percent of total electricity generation in 2025. In Spain, only 21.5 percent. And gas-being a variable price source and subject to international tensions-determines the price of electricity when it is marginal, that is, when it is the last source called upon to cover demand. In the first quarter of 2026, in Italy gas set the wholesale price in 89 percent of the hours. In Spain only in 15 percent. <\/p>\n\n

The math is brutal: the more gas in the mix, the more volatile and high the price of electricity. Italian households and businesses pay for this with bills that are structurally more expensive than those of European competitors. <\/p>\n\n

Renewables grow too slowly<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

The alternative is there, and it is well-known. Renewables-solar, wind, hydro- lower the marginal cost of energy, reduce foreign dependence, and do not emit climate-changing gases. Spain realized this before others: between 2020 and 2025, it increased its production from renewables by 41.9 percent to cover 56 percent of total electricity production. Over the same period, Spanish fossil gas was reduced by 11 percent and coal by 83.3 percent. <\/p>\n\n

Italy, in the same time frame, increased its production from renewables by 10 percent. Germany and the Netherlands do better: clean sources cover 58.8 percent and 51.2 percent of their electricity production, respectively. <\/p>\n\n

The problem is not a lack of projects. More than 1,700 permit applications for renewable energy plants lie at the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, stuck between delays in the Technical EIA Commission, objections from the Ministry of Culture and the slowness of the Prime Minister’s Office. Authorization processes that drag on for years, local opposition, bureaucracy: the result is that Italy fails to build what it has planned. <\/p>\n\n

The government’s mistakes<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

Legambiente identifies three main errors in the current energy policy of the Meloni government. The first is the strengthening of dependence on gas through new trade agreements and new fossil infrastructure, such as the Ravenna regasifier or the Snam backbone from Puglia to Emilia Romagna. Infrastructure that binds the country to fossil fuels for decades, in the opposite direction of European climate goals. <\/p>\n\n

To the five regasifiers already in operation<\/strong> – in Panigaglia, Cavarzere, Livorno, Piombino and Ravenna – three more could be added, in Taranto, Gioia Tauro and Porto Empedocle. A choice that Legambiente considers in stark contrast to the decarbonization path. <\/p>\n\n

The second mistake is the prospect of a return to nuclear power<\/strong>. The environmental association calls it a run-up to a technology that is highly expensive and a harbinger of unresolved problems, starting with the national radioactive waste repository, on which Italy has not yet decided anything after years of discussion. <\/p>\n\n

The third mistake is, by omission, not speeding up the transition. Italy is at risk of European infringement proceedings for not yet submitting a draft plan for the upgrading of the most energy-intensive buildings, as required by the EPBD Green Homes Directive. Also delayed are the auctions for existing plants, those for offshore wind, and the RES Decree X, due in June 2022. <\/p>\n\n

Fifteen proposals to change course<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

Faced with this scenario, Legambiente has developed fifteen concrete proposals to present to the government. At the center is a Plan to 2030 for the elimination and reshaping of environmentally harmful subsidies-so-called<\/strong> SADs-to free up resources for transition and to support businesses and households. This is coupled with a call for an immediate stop to new gas infrastructure<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

On the positive side, the association calls for strict adherence to permitting deadlines for new renewable plants<\/strong>, a serious energy efficiency policy for residential buildings, and acceleration of the zonal and dynamic pricing mechanism, which would allow renewable sources<\/strong> to be decoupled from the gas price in electricity cost formation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

The president of Legambiente, Stefano Ciafani<\/strong>, is direct: Italy has chosen not to learn the lessons of recent years, remaining hooked on fossil sources that the whole world is abandoning. By 2025, according to the IRENA Agency, 85 percent of global investment in electricity generation went to clean sources<\/strong>. In the United States, that share rises to 92 percent. <\/p>\n\n

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