Can Italy’s Land Support the Growing Agrivoltaics Expansion?

Italy’s energy mix is still heavily dependent on fossil fuels, with oil, natural gas, and carbon covering 81.2% of the total energy demand [1].

To mitigate the effects of climate change and secure a sustainable future for the younger generations, the country is addressing the significant challenge of energy decarbonization. The National Energy Plan (PNIEC) has set ambitious goals for 2030, aiming to have 39.4% of gross energy demand met by renewable energy sources [2].

To accomplish this target, the PNIEC forecasts an increase of 131 GW of renewable energy capacity, including 72,6 GW of solar. Consequently, between 2022 and 2030, installed solar capacity is expected to increase by 290%.

Therefore, given the recent ban on standard ground-mounted photovoltaic systems [3], Agrivoltaics will be leader in future installations of renewable energy systems.

But, is there enough land to sustain this increase?

According to recent studies from the National Agency for New Technologies (ENEA) [4], utility scale Agrivoltaics (surface >20 ha) could be installed on 64% of the national agricultural land (around 10.5 million ha), providing an astonishing potential increase in capacity between 5235 GW and 8375 GW!

This means that to meet the PNIEC targets, only a limited fraction of land has to be reconverted into Agrivoltaics fields (between 0.9% and 1.4% of the agricultural land), protecting the beautiful and renowned Italian landscape.

To conclude, Agrivoltaics presents a promising way to increase renewable energy capacity to satisfy the Italian 2030 goals, without spoiling the country’s agricultural land and productivity. Moreover, this technology has the potential to sustain further the national transition to clean energy production up to a fully decarbonized scenario and ensure a greener future for the next generations.

Bibliography

[1] “Energy mix of Italy 2022,” IEA. [Online]. Available: https://www.iea.org/countries/italy/energy-mix

[2] “PNIEC 2024,” Ministero dell’Ambiente e della Sicurezza Energetica, Jun. 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.mase.gov.it/sites/default/files/PNIEC_2024_revfin_01072024.pdf

[3] DECRETO-LEGGE 15 maggio 2024, n. 63. [Online]. Available: https://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/eli/id/2024/05/15/24G00081/sg

[4] G. Fattoruso, M. Toscano, and A. Venturo, “Il potenziale agrivoltaico nazionale,” ENEA AIAS, Feb. 2024.