For the first time in Italy, the production of electricity from renewable sources has overtaken fossil fuel generation, according to grid operator Terna.
Solar and wind production combined increased by 14.6% from H1 2023 to H1 2024, with renewable energy accounting for 43.8% of energy demand during the latter six-month period. This is an increase from H1 2023, when renewable energy covered 34.9% of energy demand. According to the Italian grid operator, numbers from H1 2024 were a record high for a half-year basis.
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Although much of the growth in renewable energy generation came from hydropower overperforming, most of the added renewable energy capacity during the first six months of 2024 came from solar PV. Developers added 3.7GW of new renewable power capacity in H1 2024, 1GW more than in H1 2023, and solar PV accounted for 3.3GW.
At this rate, Italy is poised to improve on its already impressive performance in 2023, when it added more than 5.2GW of solar PV capacity. Solar PV’s installed capacity for H1 2024 has already surpassed all but two full years since 2010.
Numbers from trade association Italia Solare showed that the utility-scale sector had the biggest increase in Q1 2024, with a 373% increase from Q1 2023. During the first three months of the year, Italy added 1.7GW of solar PV.
After a long period of scarcely any solar PV capacity being installed in Italy between 2014 and 2021, the technology has been on the rise ever since and new capacity additions continue to grow year-on-year.
Moreover, the Italian grid operator recently unveiled its plan to invest €16.5 billion (US$17.9 billion) in the next five years to strengthen and expand the country’s transmission grid. The plan is intended to support Italy’s shift to a decentralised energy system as the volume of PV and other renewable energy sources coming online grows.
However, earlier in the year, the Italian government banned the installation of solar PV on agricultural land, a ban which contains some “contradictions” (Premium access), according to Ginevra Biadico, managing counsel at international law firm Dentons.
