The European Commission has approved a €23 billion state aid scheme proposed by Italy to boost renewable energy development across the country. The initiative is designed to speed up Italy’s clean energy transition and support the achievement of the European Union’s renewable energy goals.
Under the program, financial support will be provided for new renewable power projects, including onshore wind, solar, hydropower, and sewage gas facilities. These projects are expected to add more than 37 GW of renewable energy capacity, increasing Italy’s current renewable electricity capacity by nearly 48%.
The aid will be granted on the basis of a transparent and non-discriminatory bidding process, with developers bidding on the strike price needed to carry out each individual project. The Italian government will also conduct a separate bidding procedure for solar and wind technologies with capacities above 1 MW, which will be subject to additional regulatory requirements.
Plants with capacities lower than 1 MW will be eligible for support from the scheme directly, without participating in a bidding process. For these projects, the strike price will be administratively set by the Italian energy regulator, Autorità di regolazione per energia reti e ambiente (ARERA).
The Commission said that the scheme’s €23 billion budget is based on current electricity market price assumptions and that actual net public support could be considerably lower if market prices remain above expected levels.
According to the European Commission, the Italian support scheme complies with the requirements of the Clean Industrial State Aid Framework (CISAF) and will play a key role in helping Italy achieve its target of sourcing 39.4% of its gross final energy consumption from renewable energy by 2030. The Commission also noted that the initiative is expected to reduce electricity costs, strengthen energy security, and lower the EU’s reliance on imported energy, supporting the goals of the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal and the REPowerEU strategy.
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