At the level of average prices in 2022 compared to 2021
, that of electricity grew by over 100%, while that of gas increased by 57%.
Enea's latest quarterly report states that "high prices remain a serious threat to the competitiveness of European industry", but "the plan to contain gas consumption and record energy prices have reduced the demand for gas and electricity and guaranteed acceptable capacity margins both in the electricity system and in the gas system, despite the fact that a quarter of imports in 2021 fell short".
The last quarter of 2022
saw a 12% contraction in energy consumption, which in average annual terms translates into a drop of over 3%, slightly lower than the European average (-4%).
The share of renewable sources in final consumption increased by one percentage point to 20%.
On the other hand, the Ispred index of Enea, which measures the energy transition on the basis of prices, emissions and safety, deteriorated sharply (-54%).
In 2022, carbon dioxide emissions grew by 0.5%, still less than the +8.5% in 2021.
According to the Enea quarterly report,
in 2022 positive signals emerge on the front of low-carbon technologies
, in particular for electric mobility: the most updated data on patents for accumulators and recharging systems show for Italy a slight recovery of the disadvantage accumulated compared to to the most important European countries, with an improvement also in the commercial exchange of electric vehicles.
Overall, however, the trade deficit in the low-carbon sector increased by 14% in 2022, touching the value of 3 billion and 700 million (0.32% of GDP).
Imports of photovoltaic panels and plug-in hybrid vehicles weighed the most, but above all of lithium-ion accumulators which alone account for 56% of the deficit in the low-carbon sector.
