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Italy

KEY ISSUES

 
Despite strong growth in sectors such as onshore wind, biogas and biodiesel, Italy is still a long way from the targets set at both national and European level. Several factors contribute to this situation. First, there is a large element of uncertainty, due to recent political changes and ambiguities in the current policy design. Second, there are administrative constraints, such as complex authorisation procedures at local level. And third, there are financial barriers, such as high grid connection costs.

In Italy, there is an obligation on electricity generators to produce a certain amount of RES-E. At present, the Italian Government is working out the details of more ambitious support mechanisms for the development and use of RES.

KEY SUPPORT SCHEMES

 
In order to promote RES-E, Italy has adopted the following schemes:

• Priority access to the grid system is guaranteed to electricity from RES and CHP plants.
• An obligation for electricity generators to feed a given proportion of RES-E into the power system. In 2006, the target was 3.05 per cent. In cases of non-compliance, sanctions are foreseen, but enforcement in practice is considered difficult because of ambiguities in the legislation.
• Tradable green certificates (which are tradable commodities proving that certain electricity is generated using renewable energy sources) are used to fulfil the RES-E obligation. The price of such a certificate stood at €109/MWh in 2005.
  
• A FIT for PV exists. This is a fixed tariff, guaranteed for 20 years and adjusted annually for inflation.

Table I.14: Key Support Schemes in Italy

*From February 2006, these tariffs are also valid for PV with net metering ≤ 20 kW

FUTURE TARGETS

According to the EU Directive, Italy aims for a RES-E share of 25 per cent of gross electricity consumption by 2010. Nationally, producers and importers of electricity are obliged to deliver a certain percentage of renewable electricity to the market every year. No progress has been made towards reaching the RES-E target. While Italy’s RES-E share amounted to 16 per cent in 1997, it decreased slightly to 15.43 per cent in 2004.