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Solar power in Italy has increased rapidly in recent years with the country ranking among the world’s largest producers of electricity from solar power. Solar power accounted for 7% of the electricity generated in Italy during 2013 (ranked 1st in the world), a share that's expected to double by 2030.
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As of April 2016 Italy had the worlds fifth largest installed solar PV capacity (behind 1. China 2. Germany. 3. Japan 4. USA and ahead of the 6. UK.) The years 2009-2013 saw a boom in installed photovoltaic nameplate capacity, increasing nearly 15-fold, and 2013's year-end capacity of 17,928 MW ranked third in the world, ahead of the United States at that time. This was partly due to the generous solar PV power generation incentives offered under the Conto Energia schemes (see below).
As of December 2013, the installed capacity is approaching 18 GW, with a production so important that several gas turbine power plants currently operate at half their potential during the day. The sector provides employment to about 100,000 people, especially in design and installation.
The Montalto di Castro Photovoltaic Power Station is the largest photovoltaic power station in Italy, in Montalto di Castro in Viterbo province. The project was built in several phases. The first phase with a total capacity of 24 MW was connected in late 2009. The second phase (8 MW) was commissioned in 2010, and the third and fourth phases, totaling 44 MW, were completed in December 2010, bringing the total to 85 MW.
Photovoltaics
As of the end of 2010, there were 155,977 solar PV plants, with a total capacity of 3,469.9 MW. At the end of 2011, there were 330,196 installations, totaling 12,773 MW. The number of plants and the total capacity surged between 2009 and 2011 following high incentives from Conto Energia. The total power capacity installed tripled and plants installed doubled in 2010 compared to 2009, with an increase of plant's average dimensions. The increase was even greater in 2011.
Energy production from photovoltaics was 1,905.7 GWh in 2010, and 18,800 GWh in 2012. Annual growth rates were fast in recent years: 251% in 2009, 182% in 2010, and 466% in 2011. More than a fifth of the total production in 2010 came from the southern region of Apulia. In 2011, 20% came from Apulia, followed by 10% from Emilia-Romagna. Italy added an estimated 3.4 GW of capacity in 2012.
The annual energy production from solar PV in Italy ranges from 1,000 to 1,500 kWh per installed kWp. A 2013 report by Deutsche Bank concluded that solar power has already reached grid parity in Italy.
Feed-in tariffs
In 2005 the Italian government introduced the first feed in tariff (FIT) specifically for photovoltaics connected to the grid, the Conto Energia scheme. The payments for these were designed to be made over a 20 year period and to incentivise both smaller and larger producers to invest in the installation of photovoltaic plants and systems. Between 2005 and 2013 five different Conto Energia schemes were introduced by ministerial decree. Each scheme had differing terms and conditions and tariffs provided to producers.
The following table provides a summary of the costs and the power installed under Conto Energia schemes 1-5:
The first Conto Energia resulted in the relatively small amount of 163 MW of new PV power installations, perhaps because solar power was still in its infancy in 2005.
The second Conto Energia introduced in 2007 resulted in a massive increase of 6,791 MW of new PV power at an annual cost of €3.27 billion and was the most costly scheme. Almost half of the total cost of the scheme is accounted for by Conto Energia 2.
Conto Energia 3 ran briefly resulting in 1,567 MW of installed power at an annual cost of €0.65 billion. This was succeeded by Conto Energia 4 which resulted in the largest increase in solar capacity so far at 7,600 MW of installed power at the annual cost of €2.47 billion. More solar capacity was added under Conto Energia 4 then took place even under Conto Energia 2 and at a lower cost.
The final Conto 5 was introduced by ministerial decree in 2012 and it was announced that the feed in tariff would end once the total annual costs of cumulative Conto Energia reached €6.7 billion. This figure was reached in 2013 and the final Conto Energia scheme was ended on 6/7/2013. The final scheme resulted in a further 2,095 MW of installed capacity at a cost of €0.22 billion. Under the Conto Energia incentive scheme a total of 18,217 MW of installed solar PV power was added at annual cost of €6.7 billion.
Concentrated solar power
The 15 MWt Archimede solar field is a concentrated solar power thermal field at Priolo Gargallo near Syracuse. The plant was inaugurated on 14 July 2010. It is the first concentrated solar power plant to use molten salt for heat transfer and storage which is integrated with a combined-cycle gas facility.
There is considerable academic and commercial interest internationally in a new form of CSP, called STEM, for off-grid applications to produce 24-hour industrial scale power for mining sites and remote communities in Italy, other parts of Europe, Australia, Asia, North Africa and Latin America. STEM uses fluidized silica sand as a thermal storage and heat transfer medium for CSP systems. It has been developed by Salerno based Magaldi Industries. The first commercial application of STEM will take place in Sicily from 2015.
Companies
Major Italian solar companies include: