Italy’s green economic growth will slow by 2025-2026, jeopardizing targets – study

(Montel) Amid regulatory delays, the number of Italian renewable energy installations will fall below the level required to meet national decarbonization goals, according to a new study on Wednesday.

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The sector has faced challenges in identifying suitable areas for renewable energy installations and a delay in the introduction of Fer X green subsidy regulations, energy researchers at the Politecnico di Milano said in their renewable energy report.

The report found that 1-1.5 GW of solar and 400-500 MW of wind would be installed between 2025 and 2026, significantly less than the 7 GW of solar and 2 GW of wind needed each year to meet the 2030 targets. .

Scientists say the slowdown has already started this year, saying they have identified “stagnation” in installations.

Last year, Italy unveiled plans to reach 131 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030, more than doubling the country’s current green energy fleet.

If current problems persist, Italy will only reach around 70 GW of total solar and wind capacity by 2030, he added.

Despite reaching a record 5.7 GW of renewable energy installations last year, up from 1.3 GW in 2021 and 3 GW in 2022, “the current installation rate continues to fall short of decarbonization targets for the year 2030,” it was stated.

Regulatory pressure
The report indicated that regulations need to be improved to achieve the goals, as both the decrees on the relevant areas and Fer X are stalled in negotiations.

Moreover, auction tariffs initially set at EUR 70/MWh hampered green development because until recently they were not waived to keep up with inflation, the researchers said.

The report found that the high levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) was too high compared to tariffs.

LCOEs of €65-80/MWh for utility-scale solar plants and €65-80/MWh for equivalent wind farms meant that auction tariffs – recently raised to €77.6/MWh – were not very attractive and increased the “risk low participation in the upcoming Fer X auctions.