Operating review

Gas distribution on the National Transportation Network

Gas volumes are expressed in standard cubic metres (SCM) with a traditional higher heating value (HHV) of 38.1 MJ/SCM (10.572 Kwh/SCM). The basic figure is measured in energy (MJ) and obtained by multiplying the physical cubic metres actually measured by the relative heating value.

The gas demand in Italy in 2018 was 72.66 billion cubic metres, down 2.49 billion cubic metres (3.3%) compared with 2017. The reduction can mainly be attributed to the lower consumption recorded in the thermoelectric industry (-2.08 billion cubic metres; -8.2%) following the return to the normal flows of electricity imports, which reduced in 2017 due to the downtime of some French nuclear plants in the first two months of the year and the increase in hydroelectric production, which has returned to normal levels after the water shortage that characterised 2017. The reduction in the demand for gas was also due to the lesser consumption in the residential and tertiary sector (-0.31 billion cubic metres; -1.1%) due to the climate trends.

Adjusted for temperature, gas demand was estimated at 73.2 billion cubic metres, down by 2.1 billion cubic metres (-2.8%) compared with 2017 (75.3 billion cubic metres). Adjusted not only for temperature but also for effects deriving from a return to normal hydroelectric production levels and nuclear production, normalised gas demand is estimated as 73.5 billion cubic metres, increasing by 1.2 billion cubic metres (1.7%) compared to the corresponding value for 2017 (72.3 billion cubic metres).

Gas demand by sector (% of total gas demand)

The availability of natural gas in Italy (72.39 billion cubic metres) is equal to the sum of gas injected into the National Transportation Network and the net balance of withdrawals from and injections into the storage system, and was down by 2.43 billion cubic metres (-3.2%) compared with 2017. The decrease was due to lesser volumes of gas injected into the network by entry point (-1.65 billion cubic metres; -2.4%) and a reduction in national production (-0.12 billion cubic metres; -2.3%), with greater net injections in storage system, associated with net withdrawals in the previous period (-0.66 billion cubic metres).