Renewable sources in IT

More and more electricity is consumed, but increasingly from renewable sources

Global electricity demand from the digital world is set to more than double in the next three years. In short, by 2026, the planet will need to support an additional amount of electricity production equivalent to what Germany uses in an entire year, all to support the activities of data centres, cryptocurrencies or artificial intelligence.

Massive energy growth challenges global infrastructure and supply

This is a significant increase that needs to be properly planned for, as it puts a strain on supplies and infrastructure that cannot afford bottlenecks as it develops. It will be a very differentiated increase globally: India and China are the places where per capita demand will increase the most, but the entire continent of Africa may also need more and more available energy.

Renewable energy in Italy: more than 40% of electricity demand met for the first time

Italy will be the protagonist of an epochal change in the energy sector: in 2024, for the first time, renewable sources will cover 41.2 per cent of electricity demand, a historic record.

Increased electricity demand and consumption data

According to data published by Terna, Italian electricity consumption increased by 2.2% compared to 2023, reaching 312.3 billion kWh (with a peak of 57.5 GW recorded on 18 July between 15:00 and 16:00). The comparison with our European partners is striking: excluding the external balance, Germany and Spain, also benefiting from the fall in electricity demand, have exceeded the 50% threshold for renewables, while the UK has reached 47% and France 27%. The evolution of installed capacity from 2014 to the present speaks for itself: between wind and photovoltaic, Italy is ahead with 1.5 GW per year (when it would need 10), has gone from 27% to 43% green, but remains the most dependent in Europe on gas and on hydroelectricity, which is subject to greater volatility due to climate change.

Renewables booming: record levels of photovoltaics and storage growth despite decline in wind power

Renewable energy sources produced 128 thousand gigawatt-hours, with hydroelectric plants (+30.4%) and photovoltaic plants (+19.3%) making a significant contribution. On the other hand, wind power (-5.6%) and geothermal energy (-0.8%) declined. Photovoltaics reached a new all-time high, with production exceeding 36 TWh.

Installed capacity has also increased significantly: 7.5 GW of new capacity was added in 2024, bringing the total to 76.6 GW, including 37.1 GW of solar PV and 13 GW of wind, bringing the total renewables capacity between solar PV and wind to 50 GW. At the same time, the growth of storage was remarkable, with 730,000 new installations offering a total capacity of 12,942 MWh.

Uniform growth in electricity demand and drastic reduction in fossil fuel use, with significant reduction in CO2 emissions

At territorial level, the increase in electricity demand was uniform: +2.2% in the north, +2.3% in the centre and +2.1% in the south and islands. This increase was partly influenced by higher than average temperatures during the summer months. The most significant data concern the sharp decline in fossil fuels, particularly coal, which recorded a 71% drop in production, now limited to Sardinia. This decline contributed to a significant reduction in CO2 emissions, which were estimated at over 8 million tonnes.

The increase in energy export capacity, which at times exceeded 4,000 MW, and the strengthening of international interconnections confirm Italy’s key role in sharing energy resources and adapting to the variability of renewable sources.

More fuel efficiency, less emissions

Global data centres at the heart of electricity growth

Of the 8,000 data centres in the world today, 33% are located in the United States, 16% in Europe and 10% in China: these are the places where consumption is most concentrated and where the emissions associated with this type of activity are highest. According to IEA estimates, the thirst for electricity will grow by 3.4% between now and 2026, and will be offset by the installation of new photovoltaic, hydroelectric and wind power plants, which are becoming increasingly common around the world.

The role of renewables in the approach to energy-intensive activities

In particular, it is expected that the increase in energy-intensive activities will increasingly find renewable sources of supply, thereby severely limiting the emissions required for production.

Projected emissions to 2026

According to IEA estimates, the virtuous actions implemented worldwide will lead to a reduction in emissions of 3.5% per year by 2026, with a particularly pronounced rate in Europe, where it would even reach -13% per year: a virtuous behaviour that will also have to lead to political choices in the balance of trade, penalising less sustainable production and increasing commitment to production based on alternative sources. Virtuous choices, in short, to trigger virtuous mechanisms that will reverse the decline in emissions, despite the digital transformation that implies an increasingly energy-consuming world.