Solar growth softened Italy’s midday power squeeze in summer 2026, but higher heat-driven demand and weaker hydro and wind left gas to cover most of the 7.9 TWh supply gap. The result was a sharper evening exposure: gas generation surged, prices rose most after sunset, and solar-heavy southern zones increasingly faced midday oversupply and weaker capture rates.
The Italian summer changed the shape of the power day more than its size. Solar produced 13.8 TWh between June and August and held the middle of the day, but a hot season lifted demand by 5.2 TWh while hydro and wind fell 2.7 TWh, and gas covered most of what was left, adding 6.4 TWh and pushing its share of generation toward half. Prices split the same way, rising least in the hours solar owns and most after sundown, so the exposure that once ran across the whole day now concentrates in the evening, where gas still sets the price.
Solar added 1.1 TWh, gas 6.4 TWh
Italian solar produced 13.8 TWh over June to August, 1.1 TWh more than the same months of 2025, while gas added 6.4 TWh over the identical window, taking it to 30.4 TWh and lifting its share of Italian generation from 40.6% to 47.7%.
Change in Italian generation by fuel, June to August 2026 against 2025. Everything else covers coal, oil, geothermal, biomass, waste, pumped hydro and other, which moved a net 0.2 TWh between them. Author’s aggregation from ENTSO-E hourly data.
