Italian RES additions in H1 far short of 2030 targets: ANIE

Italian renewable additions in the first half of 2020 have fallen significantly short of the country's 2030 targets, with just 339 MW added in the period, renewable industry group ANIE said in a statement published Sept. 15

The amount falls short of an estimated rate of 330 MW/month that would be necessary to hit the country's target of meeting 30% of gross energy demand with renewables by 2030 as set out in its National Energy and Climate Plan, the group said.

"The recent disappointing outcome of the second renewables auction shows the need to address the need to simplify the authorization process quickly," the group said.

Following a nationwide lockdown in March and April that slowed industrial activity and delayed grid work, only the PV sector showed any signs of recovery in May and June, ANIE said.

"The effects of the state of emergency on wind and hydro awarded in the auctions will be more evident in the coming months in terms of longer time frames for authorizations/concessions," the group said.

For the first half of the year, 259 MW of new PV was added, up 12% from H1 2019.

Of note, 42% of the installations carried out were smaller than 20 kW, ANIE said.

Italy approved a new law on Sept. 15 that offers a fixed tariff for small-scale prosuming sites.

The law will pay installations for a 20-year period, with Eur100/MWh for collective generation from condominiums and apartment blocks and Eur110/MWh from so-called energy communities, made up of individuals and small companies within a localized radius.

The law covers installations with up to 200 kW of capacity that have come online since December 2019 and the payout can be accumulated with the so-called superbonus tax credit from Italy's COVID-19 recovery plan, which pays up to 110% of the outlay on energy efficiency work carried out by homeowners.

Italian PV capacity currently stands at 20.9 GW from a total installed capacity of 116.2 GW in Italy and provided 7% of the supply mix in the trailing 12 months, while wind capacity is 10.7 GW (7% of supply mix in last 12 months), according to data from grid operator Terna.

Under the country's 2030 plans, the targets are 51 GW for PV and 19.3 GW for wind as well as 6 GW of new hydro pumping and storage capacity.

Both wind energy and hydro would benefit from a direct incentivized tariff in order to grow their installed capacity, ANIE said.