Two weeks ago, the Italian Council of Ministers approved the Environmental Decree, marking a decisive step for the renewable energy sector in the country. The regulation aims to establish shorter timeframes for issuing Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) permits for renewable plants.

Feliciano Palladino, Head of Energy & Environment at NexAmm, analyses the regulation and states that it directs the market towards large-scale projects, limiting opportunities for medium-sized installations.

“The Environmental Decree will benefit those planning to invest in larger facilities. In contrast, those who have decided to focus on medium-sized plants will be penalised. There will certainly be a polarisation of the market, especially in the photovoltaic, agrivoltaic, and wind industries,” says Palladino in an interview with Energía Estratégica España.

He indicates that, in the near future, actors will invest their resources almost exclusively in two types of projects: plants with a capacity below the thresholds established by Legislative Decree No. 152/2006 for the mandatory activation of the EIA procedure, photovoltaic or agrivoltaic plants with a capacity greater than 50 MW, and wind farms with over 70 MW, which will benefit from a fast-track procedure during the EIA process.

Among the main novelties of this decree is the shortening of times for obtaining Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) permits in three key categories: green hydrogen plants and those connected to them, new renewable energy installations on land, and modifications or reconstructions of existing wind or solar parks.

“These provisions will strongly influence investors’ development decisions,” highlights Palladino, steering projects towards larger scales and excluding medium-sized developments, which face longer approval times and requirements.

In this regard, the expert points out that the Environmental Decree imposes significant obstacles on medium-sized photovoltaic and agrivoltaic plants (between 10 and 50 MW), and on offshore projects, which will not benefit from a fast-track EIA process. “Offshore wind plants, which have not been included among the initiatives that will benefit from a fast-track procedure in the EIA process, will also be severely penalised,” warns Palladino.

However, he states that onshore wind farms will suffer the greatest impact, as the regulation establishes that environmental impact applications must be submitted with a declaration certifying the availability of all areas where the plant will be built.

“While this does not change for photovoltaic plants, for wind farms it represents a significant shift, excluding the possibility of obtaining public expropriation of areas. Given the large number of areas required to build wind farms, the new rule will entail a major financial effort for developers, who will need to negotiate the availability of land with all owners,” he explains.

Grid Connection

The NexAmm expert points out that the approval of large plants under the new Environmental Decree will lead to the definitive saturation of connection points, generating major risks for grid resilience.

Currently, the Italian national grid has over 6,000 connection requests pending, amounting to a total capacity of 343.9 GW, according to data published by Terna on 30th September. Of this total, 151.8 GW comes from photovoltaic solar energy, 108 GW from onshore wind energy, and 84.1 GW from offshore wind energy.

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