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Iren Posts Lower Electricity Output in Q1

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Italian utility Iren on Monday reported a 4% decline over the year in electricity output to 2.794 terawatt-hours, due to lower production from cogeneration plants and renewable sources.

Electricity output from cogeneration facilities was down 3.7% from a year earlier at 1.842 TWh.

Production from renewable sources slipped 28.3% to 240 gigawatt-hours, despite a 12% growth in capacity. About 243 megawatts were added from the commissioning of the Noto photovoltaic plant and a small plant in Bologna.

Thermoelectric generation, on the other hand, was up 7.3% to 713 GWh.

The utility said it also produced 1.279 terawatt-hours of thermal energy during the period, a 5.6% increase from year-ago levels, driven by a more favorable thermal season.

The energy segment posted a 24.4% year-over-year decline in Q1 revenue to 710 million euros ($836.46 million).

Meanwhile, the company's directly marketed electricity totaled 1.747 TWh during the period, down 21.5% from the previous year, largely due to lower demand from the retail and wholesale sectors.

The market business unit recorded a 14.3% drop in revenue to 1.15 billion euros.

In Q1, Iren distributed 969 GWh of electricity and 497 million cubic meters of gas. It sold 46 million cubic meters of water at the same time.

The networks segment generated 328 million euros in revenue, 1.9% higher than the prior year's sales.

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