From pv magazine Italy
Italy’s Council of Ministers last week granted environmental clearance for 11 utility-scale solar projects in the southern region of Puglia, removing a key regulatory barrier to construction. The approvals followed positive Environmental Impact Assessments, a required step before work can begin.
The approved projects total about 710 MW of capacity and are being developed by a mix of Italian and international companies, including Pacifico Energy Partners, Montana, Kenergia, and Canadian Solar. Most of the projects are agrivoltaic systems, the government said in a statement.
At the same time, the Council of Ministers decided to challenge Umbria Region Law No. 7/2025, which introduced “urgent measures” on the energy transition and landscape protection, including rules governing suitable areas for photovoltaic plants. The decision followed a proposal by Minister for Regional Affairs and Local Authorities Roberto Calderoli.
“Certain provisions, in conflict with state regulations regarding the production, transport, and national distribution of energy,” the Council of Ministers said.
The challenge came despite earlier discussions in which most ministerial observations had been accepted, according to Umbrian Environment Councilor Thomas De Luca. He said the only unresolved issue had been a request from the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security to delete Article 4, which required the identification of areas unsuitable for renewable energy plants.
The government’s move amounts to a direct attack on regional authority, De Luca said, arguing that the law merely applied national rules allowing regions to identify unsuitable areas for renewable energy installations.
Umbria’s regional government maintains that its powers have not been fully repealed by recent regulatory changes, noting that the interministerial decree of Sept. 10, 2010, setting guidelines for renewable energy plants, remains in force. The regional legislative assembly approved the law in early October, focusing on development in anthropized or already compromised land.
More recently, De Luca criticized the government’s new decree on suitable areas, saying it would effectively classify the entire Umbria region as unsuitable and deprive regions of tools for territorial governance over large agrivoltaic systems.
Legal friction between national and regional authorities has intensified over the past year. In March, Italy’s Constitutional Court struck down a Sardinian moratorium on renewable energy projects, finding it violated constitutional obligations to balance landscape protection with national energy objectives.
Two months later, the regional administrative tribunal for Lazio annulled the government’s “Aree idonee” decree on suitable areas for ground-mounted renewables. The decree, issued in June 2024, allowed regions to set buffer zones around protected assets, with distances varying by plant type and extending up to 7 km.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.