European Commission approves Italy incentive scheme for agrivoltaics

Brussels: The European Commission has approved Italy’s €1.7 billion scheme for agrivoltaics. The program is designed to deploy 1.04 GW of installed solar. It will also award incentives to agricultural businesses in the form of one-time investment grants and 20-year tariffs.

The Italian government has allocated €1.1 billion for investment grants that will cover up to 40% of a project’s total costs and €560 million for the tariffs.

“These tariffs will be determined through a competitive bidding process on a pay-as-bid rule and will take the form of two-way contracts for difference,” said the European Commission. “The support will cover the difference between the incentive tariffs and the energy prices. In case of high energy prices, a claw-back mechanism is in place so that any amount exceeding the incentive tariffs will be paid back.”

The projects selected through the program will have to be operational before June 30, 2026.

“This €1.7 billion scheme, partially funded by the Recovery and Resilience Facility, enables Italy to support a more efficient use of land by combining agriculture with renewable energy production,” said Commissioner Didier Reynders, who is in charge of competition policy. “It will contribute to the greening of the agricultural sector and to the transition to climate neutrality, in line with the EU Green Deal objectives.”