(ANSA) - ROME, FEBRUARY 26 - Italy has managed to save just under 20% of the gas it consumes and is in good company in Europe.
The consumption of natural gas in the European Union, in fact, decreased by 19.3% in the period August 2022-January 2023, compared to the average gas consumption in the same months (August-January) between 2017 and 2022. Except for a few cases, therefore , the member countries of the Union, including Italy, have managed to meet the 15% reduction target for the period August 2022-March 2023 compared to the average for the same period of the five previous consecutive years, set by the EU Council regulation on coordinated reduction measures gas demand, part of the REPowerEU plan to end Europe's dependence on Russian fossil fuels.
This is what emerges from the data on
Between August 2022 and January 2023, among EU countries, Ireland (-0.3%) recorded the lowest drop in natural gas consumption in the reference period, while Spain (-13.7%) and Slovenia (- 14.2%) have seen a significant decline but have not yet reached the 15% target.
In other members of the Union, savings exceeded the 15% target and in some in particular by a large margin (over 40%).
Consumption decreased the most in Finland (-57.3%), Lithuania (-47.9%) and Sweden (-40.2%).
Italy is just below the European average, with a drop in consumption of around 19%.
(HANDLE).
