Amazon, Nadara switch on 227 MW agrivoltaic facility in Italy

UK-based renewable energy company Nadara has completed a 227 MW agrivoltaic project in Sicily that it describes as the largest facility of its kind in Italy.

The Big Fish project is located in the province of Catania. According to Nadara, construction was supported by a previously signed 156 MW power purchase agreement (PPA) with Amazon.

Located around 40 km from Mount Etna, the project extends across the municipalities of Catania, Lentini and Motta Sant’Anastasia. Nadara said the facility was built in 12 months, with more than 900 workers involved in construction.

The project covers around 400 hectares across 15 plots, with approximately half of the area dedicated to agricultural activities.

Nadara estimates that local municipalities will receive at least €17.25 million for services and energy-efficiency measures over the project’s operating life. The funding will support infrastructure upgrades, monitoring systems for public buildings and electric vehicles for municipal use.

The developer said environmental mitigation measures included the planting of 38,000 trees and maintenance work along 2.5 km of public waterways.

To accommodate agricultural activities, the solar panels were installed at heights of up to 3 meters. Overhead cables were routed around the perimeter of the site, while 14 wells were built or restored to provide irrigation. Beehives installed at the project are expected to produce around 4.5 metric tons of honey per year.

Regional documents show that the project’s environmental approval included a 20 MW/40 MWh battery energy storage system. Environmental approval was granted in May 2023, followed by final permit in October 2023. Subsequent approvals explicitly identify Big Fish as an agrivoltaic project including cover retention basins, hydraulic crossings and other works. In September 2025, regional authorities certified compliance with the environmental conditions imposed under the 2023 approval.

Amazon, which has set a target of reaching net-zero carbon emissions across its operations by 2040, said it has supported eight utility-scale solar projects in Italy and installed 32 solar systems at its facilities in the country. The 40 projects have a combined estimated capacity of 532 MW.

At 227 MW, Big Fish is slightly larger than European Energy’s 225.5 MW agrivoltaic project in Vizzini, also in the province of Catania, where construction began in May.