Italian electric power industry

A rapid increase in the capacity of power installation in Italy has been going on since the war; at the end of 1924 the total installed capacity was nearly double that of 1918. A corresponding increase has taken place in consumption, and while the yearly load factor in 1924 was slightly below that of 1918, it was considerably higher than in 1908, and shows an improvement as compared with 1920 and 1922. As steam plants represent about 20 per cent of the total capacity, and operate on the average for only about 600 hours per year, the load factor for the hydroelectric plants reaches approximately 40 per cent: