Italy: Fully committed to moving towards a new era of renewa

According to a recent announcement by the Italian State Grid Corporation, there has been a significant transformation in the country's energy sector in the first half of this year, with renewable energy generation surpassing traditional fossil energy generation for the first time, an increase of 27.3% compared to the same period last year, meeting 43.8% of electricity demand, a significant increase of nearly 9 percentage points compared to the same period last year, reaching a historic high.

In recent years, Italy has been committed to accelerating the development of renewable energy and continuously reducing the proportion of traditional fossil fuels. In the first half of this year, coal-fired power generation decreased by 77.3% year-on-year, while the installed capacity of renewable energy generation increased by 3691 megawatts, a year-on-year increase of 41%, with photovoltaic power generation dominating. Meanwhile, the number of enterprises engaged in renewable energy business reached approximately 37700 in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 13.2%.

As of the end of June this year, Italy's installed capacity of renewable energy generation reached 72.84 gigawatts. Among them, the installed capacity of photovoltaic power generation reached 33.62 gigawatts, a year-on-year increase of 22.8%; The installed capacity of hydropower reached 21.59 gigawatts, a slight increase of 0.1% year-on-year; The installed capacity of wind power generation reached 12.7 gigawatts, a year-on-year increase of 4.8%; The installed capacity of bioenergy and geothermal reached 4.93 gigawatts, a year-on-year increase of 10.4%.

In terms of international cooperation, the Italian government works closely with the European Union. The National Energy and Climate Integrated Plan submitted by the Italian government to the European Union indicates that by 2030, the share of renewable energy in the country's electricity consumption will increase to 65%, and the installed power generation capacity will reach 131 gigawatts. The European Commission has approved Italy's renewable energy generation plan to support the construction of a total installed capacity of 4590 megawatts of power plants by the end of 2028, with a focus on the development of geothermal energy, offshore wind power, tidal energy, etc., involving 35.3 billion euros in funding.

Italy actively promotes the construction of renewable energy communities domestically. At the beginning of this year, the Italian government passed a bill to provide up to 40% subsidies for the construction of renewable energy communities in towns with less than 5000 people, and tax incentives for nationwide connected renewable energy production. It is expected to add 5 gigawatts of power generation capacity by 2028. Lombardy, Umbria and other regions have also introduced policies to support the installation of photovoltaic power generation and energy storage equipment in public buildings. At present, there are over 150 renewable energy communities throughout Italy, with the largest located in the outskirts of Bergamo, equipped with over 6300 solar panels and generating over 3 megawatts of electricity, saving local households 25% of their electricity bills annually.

Italian Minister of Environment and Energy Security, Gilbert Frating, stated that Italy's investment in renewable energy continues to increase, aimed at reducing energy costs and enhancing energy technology competitiveness. The Italian government will steadfastly accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy, promote the development of renewable energy, and achieve sustainable development goals.