Italy is set to increase the amount of state aid it provides for investment in photovoltaic (PV) solar panels in the agricultural sector.
This increase in funding comes from the EU-funded Recovery and Resilience Facility, and therefore is not covered by a ban on PV installations on farmland that the Italian government proposed in May.
The European Commission confirmed this week that, under EU state aid rules, it had approved an amendment to a existing scheme to support the investment in PV panels in agriculture in Italy.
The approved amendment will see an almost doubling of the funding available to Italian farmers and agri-businesses for PV installation, with the scheme’s budget increasing by €785 million to around €1.6 billion.
The scheme, with its original funding, was initially approved by the commission in July 2022.
According to the commission, the scheme’s aim is to support agricultural, breeding, and agro-industrial companies to invest in the use of renewable energy.
The commission said that the Italian scheme “remains necessary, appropriate and proportionate to ensure a sustainable growth of the agricultural sector”, and, on that basis, approved the scheme under EU state aid rules.
In general, EU member states require prior approval from the commission before providing any funding that qualifies as state aid.
The ban on PV installation on farmland that the Italian government proposed in May does not cover PV installations funded through the Recovery and Resilience Facility, nor does it apply to ‘agrovoltaic’ projects (where farming and solar PV installations co-exist).
The ban came as part of a range of measures to “strengthen” farming and other businesses.
In May, the Italian cabinet announced a suite of “urgent provisions” for businesses in agriculture, fishing and aquaculture.
The measures cover a wide range of areas apart from solar PV, including African swine fever, unfair trading practices (UTPs), controlling spread of alien species, and strengthening controls in the agri-food sector, among other issues.
The ban on the installation of solar PV systems, and on the extension of existing ones, will apply to areas that are classified as “agricultural” in urban development plans.
The move was criticised by groups in Italy’s renewable and solar energy sector.