Pope orders agrivoltaics project to power Vatican City

June 27, 2024
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Pope Francis called for an agrivoltaics plant to be built in the Santa Maria Galeria area. Image: Ashwin Vaswani via Unsplash

The Pope has ordered that a solar PV project be built in the Vatican City, with a capacity sufficient to power all of the mini-state’s electricity needs.

In a public statement, Pope Francis called for an agrivoltaics plant to be built in the Santa Maria Galeria area, northwest of Rome, outside the Vatican walls. The area belongs to the Vatican and hosts its radio station, which will also be powered by the solar site.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

The capacity, timeframe and technology of the plant have yet to be clarified.

The Pope said; “We need to make a transition towards a sustainable development model that reduces greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, setting the objective of climate neutrality.” The decision built on his 2015 “Laudato Si” letter, which emphasised a need to address climate change on humanity’s “common home”.

The task of delivering the agrivoltaics project was given to two cardinals who serve as the governor of the Vatican City and the president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA), which deals with the state’s funds.

The Vatican City, which is home to the headquarters of the global Catholic church, is the smallest state in the world. The main audience hall in the Vatican already has a solar installation on its roof, installed in 2008.

Italy – the country surrounding the Vatican state – recently announced a ban on solar deployments on agricultural land, which many took to effectively be a ban on some agrivoltaics projects. This publication spoke with two legal and industry experts earlier this month, who said that the proposed ban contains “contradictions”.

Read Next

October 21, 2025
Australia's solar-plus-storage sector gained momentum with 725MW of solar PV approvals advancing across New South Wales and Queensland.
October 21, 2025
Luminous Robotics has successfully completed its first international deployment of AI-powered solar installation robots at Engie’s 250MW Goorambat East Solar Farm in Victoria, Australia.
October 21, 2025
An independent panel has granted resource consents for the 179MW Glorit Solar Farm in Auckland, New Zealand.
October 20, 2025
Spain has amended its national common agricultural policy (PAC) framework to include agrivoltaic (agriPV) systems to be eligible for subsidies.
October 17, 2025
Norwegian renewable energy firm Scatec has signed lease agreements for 64MW of solar PV and 10MWh of energy storage capacity in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
October 16, 2025
Masdar and Turkey have entered the final stage of US$1 billion agreement to develop the 1.1GW plant in Bor, Niğde Province, central Turkey.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
October 21, 2025
New York, USA
Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
December 2, 2025
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK