ANCONA Today in the Council of Ministers photovoltaics is on the scene and involves three ministries. On the one hand, that of Agriculture of Minister Lollobrigida (FdI) who, with a decree, would prohibit agricultural areas for the construction of solar panel fields, supported by the Minister of Culture Sangiuliano (FdI) who comes to defend the landscapes. On the other, that of the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto Fratin (FI), unaware of the provision, who in February had launched a series of twenty-year incentives for agrivoltaics and fears a setback in reaching the Italy’s energy transition commitments.
The appointment
This morning, the new formula studied by technicians over the weekend will be examined by the Government. Meanwhile, whatever the outcome, the Marche Region adopted a bridging measure in mid-March. This is a transitional law, mediated between the majority and minority, strongly supported by Coldiretti, which regulates the construction of photovoltaic systems. «This is a response – declares the association – to the requests of farmers and citizens against land consumption». In 2021 it had collected as many as 8,300 signatures from Marche residents against ground-mounted solar panels, but in favor of systems on the roofs of buildings, warehouses and warehouses. A law, however, which according to the Legambiente president, Marco Ciarulli, confuses photovoltaics and agrivoltaics. «I repeat what has already been said in the Commission – he goes into the matter – If it is true that a governance capable of protecting the environment and keeping speculation at bay is essential, it is equally true that without large ground-based systems built in the right places, the Italy will not reach 60 gigaWatts of photovoltaic energy.” For Legambiente, it is essential to distinguish the two types of installations.
The difference
Photovoltaics concerns ground-mounted systems that will lead to removable land consumption – this is not concrete pouring – and, at most, will occupy 0.6% of the fields. Percentage largely satisfied by uncultivated and abandoned places. While for agrivoltaics, these are systems positioned in fields suitable for agriculture, but at a height that allows the work of a tractor and will provide additional income to the agricultural company. «A reasoning – warns Ciarulli – which requires controls to limit the installation of systems to the actual electricity coverage needs of the Marche region without going further». This is because, beyond the positions taken, the Marche law was the Region’s response to the avalanche of installation requests in recent years and to the protests of many committees in defense of the territories affected by the plants.
The questions
Requests for authorizations that made the Marche, in 2022, the first region producing photovoltaic energy produced in Italy (5.1%) and the highest installed power per capita (805 Watts per inhabitant against the national average of 415). In the latest report from the GSE (the company of the Ministry of Economy that manages energy services), photovoltaic, in the Marche region, represents 78.9% of the production of renewable energy and is produced by 39 thousand systems (+20% from 2021), mostly for residential use (31,178). In the ranking, 3722 are for industries, 3457 for the tertiary sector, 1590 for agricultural companies and 173 for use by public administrations. Plants mostly from Ancona (12,830) although in terms of production volume (409.7 gigawatts/hour) those from Macerata dominate. A trend that doesn’t stop. In the first half of last year, another 5,701 new plants were authorized (+14.3%). As for agrivoltaics, in September 2023, the area actually occupied by ground-based systems in the Marche was 966 hectares. Which equates to 0.21% of the utilized agricultural area against a national average of 0.13%.
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