Another big solar PPA signed in Italy

Danish renewables developer European Energy has secured a 12-year PPA for 300 MW of solar plant capacity it is developing in Italy with Axpo Italia, the local subsidiary of Swiss energy company Axpo.

“The length and the price of the agreement ensures bankability, which will allow us to realize substantial parts of our Italian project pipeline,” said European Energy CEO Knud Erik Andersen in a press statement.

“The majority of our projects are based in Puglia and Sicily while our Italian project pipeline is around 1 GW,” a company spokesman told pv magazine. “We have some projects with local partners and others where we are the sole owners. For example we have a 400 MW portfolio in a 50-50 partnership with Limes Renewable Energy.”

In its press release, Europe Energy said of the Italian projects to secure PPAs with Axpo, around 150 MW are ready-to-build projects with the same capacity in various stages of development.

PPAs still trailing rooftop solar in Italy

“Solar is the fastest-growing form of energy, and Italy is a market with tremendous potential where we already are seeing great opportunity,” said Axpo Italia CEO Simone Demarchi.

The Italian solar market has seen an increasing number of solar PPA announcements in recent months, as well as new pipelines for “grid-parity” projects. However growth is still mainly driven by rooftop PV, as recent statistics have illustrated.

“There is a great ferment, particularly in the photovoltaic sector,” Italian renewable energy analyst Gianni Silvestrini recently told pv magazine, adding: “With regard to large plants, permitting activities are already under way for many hundreds of megawatts.”

The Italian government last week published a new National Integrated Plan for Climate and Energy 2030, which aims to reach a solar target of 50 GW by 2030.

European Energy was awarded 90 MW of solar capacity in Denmark’s recent auction for large-scale wind and solar projects.