Italy introduces 11-month retroactive incentive cut on PV systems over 20 kW

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The Italian government today introduced a new package of measures to help consumers and businesses reduce their energy bills that includes a retroactive cut on the incentives the Italian energy Agency GSE pays to the owners of PV systems exceeding 20 kW in size under the Conto Energia Program.

The new provisions were included in a decree published today in the country's official journal.

The incentive cut will apply only for the period from February 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022, and will reduce the tariffs paid by the GSE to PV system operators depending on the zonal energy price, with the incentive reduction being proportional to the increase in energy prices.

The new rules apply only to existing installations under the Conto Energia program, which expired in 2014, and not those built under net metering program outside of the scheme.

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“We express great concern for the new decree, as it establishes a forced levy on companies that produce energy from renewable sources without any possibility of compensation or restitution,” Italia Solare President Paolo Rocco Viscontini told pv magazine.Although temporary, the decree represents a change in the rules of the electricity market and creates a loss of credibility in the country towards investors who today more than ever are called to make the energy transition by investing in new renewable plants.”

The new measure is also being opposed by several Italian trade bodies, including Italian wind power association Anev, hydropower association Assoidroelettrica, and enewables organization ANIE Rinnovabili, as well as consumer and environmental associations that were among the signatories of a letter to the government.

The signatories believe that it is essential to quickly open a discussion table on a topic as important as that of the current energy crisis in our country, to define structural interventions that guarantee the country stable energy costs in the medium and long term, competitive and as independent as possible from international geopolitical contexts, in compliance with the decarbonization objectives assumed by our country,” the letter reads.

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