Italy

After earmarking €3 million last year and €4 million in 2017, the Italian region of Lombardy has decided to further support residential and commercial storage projects linked to renewables.

By adding 77 MW of solar generation capacity and 256 MW of wind assets the power company wants to become number two in the Italian wind sector and engage in a significant development of solar.

Reports about a leaked document suggest that Germany, Italy, Greece and Slovakia have joined a group of EU member states that support a carbon neutrality bill. Germany refused to support such plans in March, but with political support for the German Green Party skyrocketing, Chancellor Angela Merkel is likely to revise her government’s position. With Germany now on the ticket, a plan could be finalized at some point this year.

A research team from Russia’s institutes NUST MISIS and IPCE RAS, and Italy’s University of Rome Tor Vergata, have applied an additional layer of p-type copper iodide semiconductor between perovskite and the hole-transport NiO layer of the cell. According to the scientists, this inorganic material is more accessible and easy-to-use.

The €5.4 billion program is expected to spur new growth in large scale PV while also providing incentives for rooftop systems. Originally scheduled for January, the country’s first technology neutral clean energy auctions – which will provide additional incentives EV charging-linked projects – may be held in the months ahead.

Italian industrial group Maccaferri, the parent company of the insolvent EPC contractor, has also filed for insolvency for another three units of its energy business.

Although the Italian PV industry only posted a slight increase compared to the first quarter of the previous two years, the market has continued to grow at an average of around 30 MW per month over the past five years, while still being driven by rooftop solar. More growth is expected from the PPA segment and upcoming auctions. The European Commission still needs to approve a decree regulating the country’s procurement scheme, however.

With clean energy being generated at lower and lower prices around the world, solar power is playing a leading role in bringing the curtain down on coal, and will help the decarbonization of transport and space heating too.

Leading representatives of the European solar industry have issued a call for a new industrial strategy ahead of the European Commission’s upcoming proposals for the sector, which are expected this summer.

In the following interview, Enerray’s business development and sales director, Antonio Capua discusses the current O&M and EPC situation in Italy. Overall, he says there are opportunities to be grasped by those companies that have a proven quality and reliability track record.