Up to 40% of Tuscany’s electricity comes from geothermal and will continue to grow
View over Florence/ Tuscany, Italy (source: flickr/ Maëlick, creative commons)
Alexander Richter
6 Dec 2017
The region of Tuscany in Italy derives about 40% of its electricity from geothermal power plants with expected further increase in the coming years.
The Tuscany region of Italy In Tuscany consumes just under 21,000 GWh of electricity, about 16,000 GWh of which are produced within the region. About 5,500 are derived from outside.
Where does this electricity come from? According to data provided by the Region, a majority (53%) from renewables: 8.450 Gwh per year. A result that is made possible only by the presence – and cultivation of geothermal energy, which is “the main renewable source available in Tuscany”. The heat of the earth has in fact allowed Tuscany to generate 6,185 Gwh in the last year, or 39% of total electricity production and 73.2% of that from renewable sources. An extraordinary contribution on which the Region will continue to aim to make Tuscany a “carbon-free” region,
The Toscana Green 2050 project which sees the Region collaborate with the University of Pisa (and in particular with the professors Giglioli and Sbrana) is defining the potential of renewable energy in Tuscany to 2050, taking into account the possible technological developments and as a “central” geothermal development: the project plans to evaluate geothermal reserves to available to understand possible developments, especially technological ones, and to analyze other renewables as well.
“The theme of the fight against climate change is true, deep and that is why everyone will have to compete – said the president Rossi – We aim at a Tuscany able to reduce by 95% its emissions into the atmosphere, producing more energy through renewable sources , by not expanding the presence of geothermal energy, but by increasing the production of energy from geothermal sources. This is why we decided to entrust the University of Pisa with a task to draft a Carbon-free Project, details of which we will present in mid-2018 ».
At the moment it is known that the document supplied to the Department of Energy Engineering of Pisa for in-depth analysis foresees two scenarios for Tuscany 2050: the first trend, where it is expected that in the absence of regulatory and technological interventions – and assuming a growth in line with the GDP trend – we would come to a production of energy from renewable sources of 13,900 GWh, of which 68% from geothermal sources (about 9,450 GWh, or an increase of about 53% compared to the current figure).
The second scenario, taken from the European Roadmap to 2050, is more challenging: it takes into account innovative technological elements of strong impact and plans to reach 27,500 Gwh from renewables.
In both cases, the objective is to reduce CO2 emissions between 80 and 95% thanks to the development of clean sources: at the University of Pisa it was asked to carry out the appropriate investigations regarding technological development, the productivity of renewables, and in particular the possibilities of developing geothermal energy, given the essential role for the production of clean energy given the characteristics of our region.
Source: Greenreport
