REM: Italy launches 3.35-GW renewables tender

Italy has launched a new renewable energy tender with 3,350 MW of installed capacity up for grabs.

Winners of the tender, which will close on March 2, will be announced on May 31. This is according to Gestore dei Servizi Energetici (GSE), the publicly owned company owned by Italy's Ministry of Economy and Finance and which promotes and supports renewable energy sources.

According to GSE, 2,346 MW of wind or solar is available, 110 MW of hydro, and 472 MW for the repowering of wind and of hydro.

A further 427 MW is on offer for new solar as long as asbestos is also removed.

This comes as the government has decided that renewables projects will pay the government the increase in their profits resulting from the exceptionally high electricity prices, which have been rising across Europe. This will be in effect from February 1 to December 31, 2022, according to JD Supra.

The profits will be transfered, in the form of government support overseen by GSE, to businesses suffering from high energy prices.

The decree applies to solar photovoltaic plants with a capacity of more than 20 kW benefitting from the Conto Energia fixed tariff-mechanism, as well as to photovoltaics (PV), hydro, geothermal and wind plants that do not receive incentives.

Italy is lagging other major EU economies in seeking to decarbonise its electricity system by 2035 and align with the Paris Agreement 1.5°C climate goal, said an analysis by Ember and ECCO issued in December.

Italy has a goal of 55% renewables in its electricity mix by the end of the decade, compared with targets of more than 75% in Germany, Spain and the Netherlands.

“Unless plans are updated, Italy risks being one of the EU’s largest producers of electricity from fossil gas by 2030,” Ember stated.

The analysis noted that Italy’s 2030 wind and solar target is only 34% of consumption, “significantly less” than other countries' targets such as Denmark (94%), the Netherlands (72%), Spain (72%), Portugal (54%) and Greece (47%).

In the five years ending 2020, Italy installed fewer than 2 GW of wind projects and 3 GW of solar projects, said the analysis. Wind and solar accounted for 16.5% of Italy’s electricity production in 2020.