Renewables associations call for stronger measures in Italy to resolve bottlenecks

A group of renewable energy associations on Monday called on Italy to adopt a more ambitious Simplification Decree to overcome sluggish permitting for renewables projects.

The organisations -- SolarPower Europe, WindEurope, ANEV, ANIE Rinnovabili, Elettricita Futura and Italia Solare -- say that Italy needs to be installing at least 7 GW of renewables capacity a year to meet its Green Deal goals, while over the past few years it has added an average of less than 1 GW annually.

As part of the Italian Recovery Plan, the Simplification Decree seeks to simplify permitting rules and create an efficient governance system for investments under Next Generation EU. The Simplification Decree is at the stage of Parliamentary discussion with a limited number of amendments being selected and voted for.

While going in the right direction, the associations said, the decree needs revisions starting with its provisions on repowered projects. In Italy, repowered wind projects face the same permitting procedure as greenfield ones.

"In its current form, the Simplification Decree doesn’t do enough to ease permitting for repowered wind farms," WindEurope deputy chief executive Malgosia Bartosik said, adding that it still includes restrictions preventing the use of the latest technology.

The solar industry says that Italy currently lacks an efficient solution for ground-mounted photovoltaic (PV) plants.

"Removing permitting restrictions is a necessary step to speed up solar deployment, and the process of transposing the RED II into national law is also a key opportunity to address the simplification of PV systems repowering," commented SolarPower Europe chief executive Walburga Hemetsberger.

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