Italy bans solar on agricultural land

Features, Editors’ Blog, Interviews, Long Reads

The government rules constitute a complete ban on ground-mounted solar PV projects on land classed as agricultural. Image: Enel Green Power.

The Italian government has banned solar PV installations on agricultural land, in a move that the nation’s solar trade association said would cost Italy €60 billion (US$64.5 billion).

The government rules constitute a complete ban on ground-mounted solar PV projects on land classed as agricultural. The policy is intended to preserve Italy’s productive agricultural land and “put an end to the wild installation of ground-mounted photovoltaics,” according to agriculture minister Francesco Lollobrigida.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Lollobrigida reportedly added that the installation of solar on agricultural land has the potential to undermine the tax provisions in place in Italy for agricultural projects.

The government confirmed that projects already undergoing approvals will be protected from the new ban. The new laws are subject to approval from both Italian houses of parliament, which can amend the decision, but the decision has already drawn criticism from the Italian solar sector.

Italia Solare, the national trade body for the solar industry, called the decision “a serious mistake” and said that it would cost Italy approximately €60 billion (US$64.6 billion) in lost private investment and tax revenues.

It added that the government’s stated aim of around 50GW of solar PV deployed by 2030 would be achievable “without any significant damage to agriculture and the landscape,” and that around 50% of this target could be met with just 1% of currently unoccupied agricultural land.

“Agriculture and photovoltaics can coexist very well with crops between the rows of photovoltaic modules,” said the trade body.

According to Reuters, energy minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said that the new legislation would not endanger Italy’s solar deployment targets.

In recent years, Italy’s solar market has been dominated by residential and rooftop solar installations due to the government’s Superbonus incentives. However, utility-scale and ground-mounted deployments are expected to increase as these incentives are rolled back; Cristiano Spillati, managing director of Italian solar developer Limes, told PV Tech Premium last month that he expects to see “almost three times the amount of utility-scale solar as in 2023” come online this year.

PV Tech has been running PV ModuleTech Conferences since 2017. PV ModuleTech USA, on 21-22 May 2024, will be our third PV ModulelTech conference dedicated to the U.S. utility scale solar sector. The event will gather the key stakeholders from solar developers, solar asset owners and investors, PV manufacturing, policy-making and and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out the PV module supply channels to the U.S. out to 2025 and beyond.

UK Solar Summit 2024 will look at the role solar currently plays in the energy mix, how this will change over the coming years and how this aligns with net-zero and other government targets. We will break down all these challenges and help build up solutions through discursive panels, motivational keynotes and case studies, with newly added interactive sessions to get you moving and meeting your peers, making the connections you need to boost your business.

Understanding PV module supply to the European market in 2025. PV ModuleTech Europe 2024 is a two-day conference that tackles these challenges directly, with an agenda that addresses all aspects of module supplier selection; product availability, technology offerings, traceability of supply-chain, factory auditing, module testing and reliability, and company bankability.

Features, Editors’ Blog, Interviews, Long Reads

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : PV Tech – https://www.pv-tech.org/italy-bans-solar-on-agricultural-land/