According to a monthly report from Italian grid operator Terna SpA, solar power provided 8.4% of total Italian electricity demand in August. It also revealed that electricity generated from PV during that month grew by 49.2%, from 1,501 GWh in August 2011 to 2,240 GWh in August 2012.
Despite this positive growth, the Italian PV market is expected to worsen in the coming years. On August 27, 2012, the Italian government introduced its Conto Energia V programme which offers a feed-in-tariff for all qualifying PV projects. The Conto Energia V programme had a subsidy budget of €700 million. But, according to the official counter of the Italian Energy Authority for Renewable Energy GSE (Gestore Servizi Energetici), over €300 million has already been consumed.
Furthermore, the subsidy programme is expected to close this year as it is forecast to hit its cap of €6.70 billion, after which the Italian government will not offer further incentives for PV projects. It is believed that the annual cost of PV projects in the country currently stands at €6.17 billion.
