Photovoltaic news and pv jobs

Italy: GSE adjusts PV subsidy register again

The Italian network authority, GSE, has published an updated list of the photovoltaic systems that will receive subsidies this year. Currently more than 2,700 projects are on the waiting list.

In the course of providing solar subsidies, the Italian government stipulated that outdoor photovoltaic systems may only occupy a narrowly limited area in the future. Image: Isofoton Italia.

According to information provided by the project planning company New Energy Projects, 819 photovoltaic systems are currently on List A. A total of 93 were completed by the end of June, but have yet to be commissioned. The remaining solar parks are supposed to be under construction, or at least have been approved.

There are 77 new photovoltaic projects on List A compared with the last update at the end of July. Approval of the last project on List A stems from April 29, 2010, confirmed Andreas Lutz of New Energy Projects.

These involve many old approvals from the south of Italy where doubts exist as to whether these photovoltaic systems will be built at all. Project planners with more recent approvals would thus only have the possibility of building at their own risk, in order to outpace the projects in the next round of approvals.

At the same time, however, such projects would actually have to be finished by the end of the year at the latest. Financing, though, is often the problem - only financially strong investors are normally able to get such photovoltaic systems connected to the grid without loans.

On the other hand, time is running out for the respective project planners, Lutz goes on to point out. At the end of March 2012, a transitional regulation ends that could undermine many project rights.

In the course of providing solar subsidies, the Italian government stipulated that outdoor photovoltaic systems may only occupy a narrowly limited area in the future.

On List B, a total of 340 photovoltaic systems were commissioned by August 11, 2011. They received an automatic feed-in tariff. Compared with the list from July 29, 171 further photovoltaic systems went into operation.

What is interesting in this regard is that the share of systems from central and northern Italy is substantially higher than on List A. This supports the assumption that many of the projects on List A "only exist on paper" and would never be realized, adds Lutz.

There are 2,703 photovoltaic projects on the waiting list, the so-called List C; 981 of them with approvals that stem from 2010.

On List D, there are another 870 photovoltaic systems registered with incomplete documents; thus they are unable to assert a claim for solar subsidies.

The new invitation to tender for the first half of the year 2012 will begin in November.