Italy: number of customers of the electricity provider Enel 2015-2021

In 2021, the multinational Italian company Enel S.p.A. had roughly 31.6 million electricity customers in Italy, an increase compared to the previous years. Notwithstanding, the volume of electricity sold by Enel decreased of around 30 terawatt-hours compared to 2018.

Electricity market liberalization

The main reason for the decrease in the electricity sold by Enel is presumably the ongoing transition towards a liberalized electricity market in Italy. Nowadays, Italian electricity consumers are free to leave the regulated market and, if they opt for the deregulated one, they can pick their electricity provider autonomously. Hence, the market became much less static than in the past. After growing steadily, the number of electricity sellers in the deregulated market in Italy amounted to over 530 in 2021 and Enel was one of them.  

Enel: volume of sales in Italy

Nonetheless, Enel was still the first electricity provider in Italy, with an energy market share of 27 percent in the deregulated market in 2021. Also, Enel ranked third after Eni and Edison as leading natural gas selling firm in Italy. In 2021, the company sold over seven billion cubic meters of natural gas to Italian customers.