Polish PV developer R.Power is targeting the development of 1GW of solar projects in Italy in the next 12 months.
The Warsaw-headquartered company said it had already signed agreements with Italian landowners for 100MW of PV farms in the past month and that it saw the country as a key growth market moving forward.
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“Over the next 12 months, our portfolio of projects under development is expected to reach 1GWp,” said Jakub Charaszkiewicz, R.Power’s head of development in Italy.
“We want to invest in diverse projects – both geographically and in terms of project size and type. These will include both farms on industrial land and agrivoltaic projects,” added Charaszkiewicz.
In January, Italy allocated 975MW of solar PV and wind capacity in its seventh renewables auction, with R.Power amongst the winning bidders.
“We are just building our first power plants that won the auctions at the beginning of 2022 and we see great market potential precisely thanks to the PV auction system as well as the growing area of PPAs,” said Charaszkiewicz.
Under its National Energy Development Plan, Italy is targeting 50GW of solar by 2030. It has introduced laws to simplify permitting – a major drag on project development – in certain agricultural areas and has brought environmental permits for large PV projects under the remit of local authorities, which it hopes will expedite project development.
“The changes introduced will undoubtedly radically develop the PV sector in Italy and attract new investors,” said Charaszkiewicz.
Once amongst the leading PV markets in Europe, Italy’s early growth was spurred by its high levels of irradiation and the launch of a number of government support schemes. But changes in policy support has led it to lag behind other European markets. PV Tech Premium has taken a close look at Italy’s solar PV balancing act.