Italy needs to install 40 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable energy capacity by 2030, according to the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC).
It may be a highly ambitious objective, but it’s one that means sustained growth for the Italian renewables sector, particularly for photovoltaic and wind.
The development of renewable energy in Italy
In 2018, Italy added 1,162 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity deriving from renewables, an increase of 28% on 2017. (Data from the Renewable Energy Report 2019 by the Energy&Strategy Group at the Milan Polytechnic School of Management).
A total of 74 MW of installed capacity were added to biomass installations, 140 MW to hydroelectric plants, 437 MW to solar plants and 511 MW to wind farms, with wind’s growth outstripping that of photovoltaic for the first time in several years.
In total, at the end of 2018, Italy’s installed capacity from renewable sources surpassed 54 GW. Excluding the existing hydroelectric network present in Italy before the year 2000, we now product 37 GW of “new” renewable energy.
The Integrated Energy and Climate Plant: what it includes
The National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan 2030 is split into five areas of intervention:
- decarbonisation;
- efficiency;
- energy security;
- development of the market around energy;
- research, innovation and competitiveness.
The document aims to plan the development of the energy market through to 2030, with the intention of achieving the Europe-wide objectives already set out for the same period. The biggest difference between the 2030 plan and the National Energy Strategy published in 2017 applies to annual installations of renewables, which must be in the realm of gigawatts and need to be greatly accelerated between 2025 and 2030.
There is a strong focus on photovoltaic and wind energy (growth of 2.5 times current output), with an overall increase in renewable energy of 75%.
(Click on the link for more information on the Tendercapital Real Asset Fund, which invests also in renewable energy).