Does the Oil Price Slump Cause a Cleaner Energy Transition during Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Italy? Fresh Evidence from Quantile and Wavelet Coherency Analyses

Abstract

The aim of the article is to analyze the evolution of oil prices and renewable energy production in Italy during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic crisis with daily data for the period January 2020–September 2020 through new time series techniques (wavelet coherency analysis and quantile coherency analysis). The applied results show that disaggregated renewable energy sources (solar, hydro, wind, and geothermal) drive oil prices positively, with the exemption of biomass, which drives oil prices negatively in the long term. Establishing a link between renewable energies and oil prices allows significant policy recommendations, given the geopolitical framework and the energy national budget.