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Can sunny Sicily become a clean energy hub for Europe? Some residents need convincing
The island’s governor threatened to stop approving new solar plants until Sicily receives some special benefits.
SEI Solar Training and Solar Professionals Certificate Program Overview Video
When Salvatore Cerrito heard the Sicilian governor Renato Schifani vowing to stop new solar panels being installed, he was speechless.
“Our agricultural fields are ravaged by the panels, so we pay a price. Does this activity produce any job opportunity? No: once installed, it is managed at distance. Do they produce energy? No, because it goes to the central state,” Schifani was quoted saying by the news agency Italpress last month.
Cerrito is in charge of the East Palermo energy community on the island, an association of citizens, private business and public bodies producing renewable energy.
In his famous novel Il Gattopardo, Italian writer Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa describes a society in which an omnipresent sun weighs over the decisions of human beings. “The sun showed itself to be the true ruler of Sicily,” Tomasi wrote.
With some reason: three out of ten of the sunniest cities in Europe are located on the island, with Palermo enjoying an average of 340 sunny hours per month.
“This is a great opportunity. And it’s free,” Cerrito tells Euronews Green. “When [EU Commission president] Von Der Leyen said that Sicily can become a clean energy hub for Europe, she was not joking.”
After Italy enabled electricity to be shared and sold through the national grid in 2021, Cerrito and his engineering studio StarPower Health Contract decided to create an energy community. They opened a call for expressions of interest for building a solar field on the outskirts of Palermo.
Hundreds of demonstrations of interest came back. especially from small businesses such as bars, chemistries, hotels, and from a couple of public museums plagued by abnormal electricity bills.
With 500 members, East Palermo is set to become the largest energy community in the whole island. Their first 850 KWh solar system was built in Brancaccio, an old industrial area in the outskirts of Palermo.
Cerrito was not the only one caught off guard by Schifani’s statement. Trade unions and political opponents protested vocally. They saw solar technology as a chance for a region plagued by scarce economic opportunities to play a key role in the European energy transition.
Despite that, other regional governors followed suit and backed Schifani’s requests a few days later.
Which region produces the most solar power in Italy?
In 2021, Italy announced an informal target of 70 per cent of electricity generation from renewable sources by 2030. To achieve this, clean think tank Ember estimates that the country needs to draw on 65-70 gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy, predominantly wind and solar, over the next few years.
But according to the Solar Italy association, in 2022 the nation’s total photovoltaic power was only 25 GW, produced by over 1.2 million power plants. Most of these are small size solar home systems.
The country connected 2.48 GW last year, a 164 per cent growth compared with 2021. This new capacity could power up to a million houses per year. Yet Italy is still falling behind its goal.
Due to the abundance of sunlight, Sicily could be Italy’s ace up the sleeve. But at the end of 2022, it had only 1,742 megawatt (MW) of solar power installed. less than dimmer, northern regions like Lombardy (3,149), Veneto (2,484) or Emilia Romagna (2,512).
Located 23 km from Syracuse, Canicattini Bagni is part of the Iblei, Sicily’s biggest national park encompassing natural reserves and some special conservation areas. The town has high hopes of enjoying the touristic bonanza that made Syracuse internationally renowned.
“We are trying to give a new role to a community that faces the concrete danger of desertification,” mayor Paolo Amenta tells Euronews Green, “but this cannot include such a photovoltaic expanse.”
Amenta was convinced that the project was unlawful, so he brought it to the local administrative court. and won.
“We must produce renewable energy in industrial areas, in abandoned mines and landfills and then on fallow fields, but only abiding by the regional regulation,” Amenta says.
The idea that photovoltaic panels disrupt our landscape is a false myth obstructing our green transition.
However, the Italian foundation for sustainable development estimated that solar modules in Sicily covered an area equivalent to only 0.11 per cent of the agricultural land.
“The idea that photovoltaic panels disrupt our landscape is a false myth obstructing our green transition,” says Andrea Barbabella, head of the climate and energy sector.
Giving Sicily something back
Part of the problem is that the local government has yet to approve a regional law to define which zones are suitable for installing new solar projects.
Regional councillor for energy and public services Roberto Di Mauro tells Euronews Green that they will present the law by mid May. Solar investments will be directed mainly towards abandoned areas, mines, quarries and unproductive soils.
However when Schifani slammed solar projects, he had more than just green fields in mind. The governor wanted a fair slice of the energy pie for Sicily.
“Schifani’s statement was rather politically strong, but the president wanted to shed light over the issue,” Di Mauro says.
The councillor believes that many investments will mainly deliver energy to the richer regions of northern Italy. So his administration wants something back, such as a cut in the electricity bills paid by the island’s residents.
“We don’t ask this for the benefit of the regional government, but only for our citizens,” he says.
Technologies that will take solar energy to a new level
According to Solar Italy, electricity in Sicily traded with a price close to zero during the daytime in March. But even if solar is cheaper than other energy sources, bills are always estimated on a national average.
That means that people in Palermo pay the same price as those in Milan. The local government believes that Sicilians deserve a reduction, based on a local estimation, instead of a national one.
So far, Schifani’s gamble is paying off. The governor discussed a strategy for compensating regions hosting photovoltaic fields with the Italian minister for the environment and energy security on 21 April.
Not everyone is happy with these tactics, though. Since small solar plants need no direct authorisation from the regional government, Schifani’s statement did not impact the activity of small energy communities like East Palermo.
But after the public announcement, Cerrito received calls from worried investors.
“We [Sicilians] are always perceived as unreliable, as those who keep on changing the rules,” he says sadly. “From Palermo to Catania, there are kilometres of sunny fields with no farming activity at all. It’s humiliating, we could do so much more.”
This story was supported in the framework of the European Excellence Exchange in Journalism project, run by Free Press Unlimited.
Leading Sub-Sectors
Liquefied Natural Gas
In 2021, Italy produced only 3 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas, i.e., 4% of total gas supply, and imported the remainder (73bcm), of which LNG imports of 9.8bcm made up 13%. About 70% of the LNG came from Qatar, 14.5% from Algeria, 8% from the United States, and 7.5% from other countries. Three regassification terminals are in operation in Italy and are located in Panigaglia, near La Spezia (onshore, owned by Snam), Livorno (FSRU, owned by Snam, Igneo Infrastructure Partners, and Golar), and Rovigo (offshore platform, owned by Adriatic LNG, which in turn is 71% owned by ExxonMobil, with the remainder owned by the Qatar State Petroleum Company and Snam). Gas network operator Snam procured three additional FSRUs on a mandate from the government. One will be located in Piombino (expected to start operations in spring 2023), one in Ravenna (expected to start operations in 2024), and one is expected to be in Portovesme, Sardinia (an LNG carrier to be converted into an FSRU, start of operations is to be confirmed).
Renewable Energy
Italy ranks third in Europe for both power consumption and generation from renewable resources and is one of 14 EU countries to reach their 2020 target of renewables as a percentage of total energy consumption (18.2% versus a 17% target). Total installed power from renewables in Italy is 58 GW. In 2021, renewable power satisfied 36% of total electricity demand; production from solar power increased slightly (2.1%), peaking at 25,068 GWh (highest ever PV production), representing 21.7% of annual electricity demand from renewables. Wind power grew 10.8% at 20,619 GWh, representing 17.8% of the total demand from renewables. Hydroelectric power fell 5.4% compared to 2020 and amounted to 46,317 GWh, corresponding to 40% of total generation from renewables. Biomass produced in Italy amounted to 18,232 GWh or 15.7% of total renewable energy demand and geothermal power made up the remaining 4.8% of renewable energy production.
Opportunities
Liquefied Natural Gas
MET expects that the country will become independent of Russian gas by the second half of 2024. LNG from the United States can help diversify the Italian natural gas import mix and bring down prices. In the first six months of 2022, U.S. LNG shipments to Italy tripled. However, due to the high worldwide demand for U.S. LNG, Italian firms are encouraged to secure supplies from the United States through long-term contracts to avoid future supply disruptions. There is also demand for technologies that can reduce methane and CO2 emissions in LNG plants and for technologies that can contribute to the overall functioning of LNG regasification plants.
Renewable Energy
In the National Resilience and Recovery Plan (NRRP), Italy has devoted €59 billion to incentivize renewables between 2021–2026. Specifically, Italy plans to eliminate coal by 2025 and to bring renewables’ share of final gross electricity production to 72% by 2030 and to 95%–100% by 2050. specifically, Italy will have to add 70 GW of electric renewables, which, when added to the current 58 GW, will reach a total of 128 GW by 2030, meeting the above-mentioned 72% quota. To integrate new renewable power, it will also be necessary to install at least 60 GW of new, large-sized reserves, in addition to strengthening electric networks.
Energy Storage
Thanks to generous incentives, energy-storage systems are booming in Italy. By the end of June 2022, Italy had almost 122,000 storage systems linked to renewable energy power plants. These storage systems have a combined power of 720 MW and a maximum storage capacity of 1,361 MW. The number of units installed during the first six months of 2022 grew by 346% over the same period in 2021. Power and storage capacity grew 500% and 480%, respectively, over the same period. Nearly all units are connected to a photovoltaic plant, of which 97% are residential, and 98.5% of the installed storage systems are based on lithium-ion technology. Growth is expected to continue through 2022.
Hydrogen-related technologies
In November 2020, Italy launched a national hydrogen strategy to help decarbonize the economy and meet European climate targets. The NRRP confirms the strategy and earmarks €3.19 billion for hydrogen, transforming abandoned industrial areas into “hydrogen valleys,” piloting projects for hard-to-abate sectors, advancing transportation and technology RD. The objective is to install 6 GW of electrolysis capacity by 2050, and to produce and transport one million tons of renewable “green” hydrogen. The government’s objective also includes producing 700,000 tons of hydrogen by carbon capture, or “blue hydrogen,” in the next ten years. Renewable production through solar plants in northern Africa could increase production of green hydrogen that could be transported to Italy and the rest of Europe through Snam’s network. U.S. technologies that relate to the development of hydrogen are welcome in the Italian market, both for the supply of clean hydrogen and ammonia and for infrastructure necessary to transport them, which should be complementary to the infrastructure needed for LNG.
Philosophy
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We are experts in the field with one goal: That of guaranteeing the next generation a sustainable future and delivering into their hands the tools to turn eco-sustainability into a guarantee.
Therefore, sustainability and collaboration are the solid foundations on which FGM Solar stands to revolutionize the way everyone interacts with energy.
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Generating clean, green energy that brings community and planet together in an inescapable communion. Through our tools and technologies, we aim to completely transform energy production processes making them 100% green. In the more than 8 years since its founding, FGM has perfected speed of execution and raised the quality standards of each project, and continues to do so to ensure impeccable service.
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Contribute to generating the world’s energy needs in a safe and sustainable manner.
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We have more than 10 years of experience in engineering supply behind us, and we are constantly looking for equipment with total respect for nature that will help further our vision.