Italy bans ground-mounted solar panels on agricultural land
Italy’s right-wing government on Monday banned the installation of solar panels on agricultural land, just days after Rome committed to tripling its installed renewable energy capacity by 2030.
“We have put an end to the wild installation of ground-mounted photovoltaic panels,” Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida said at a news conference after the cabinet meeting.
The ban covers photovoltaic systems installed on the ground in areas classified as agricultural, but does not cover agrivoltaic projects, which involve installing solar panels over fields of crops, Lollobrigida said.
Projects that benefit from EU funds, such as energy communities, are exempt.
Coordinamento Free, an umbrella group for renewable energy companies and environmental associations, warned earlier on Monday that such a ban would “block many photovoltaic projects.”
“As a result, Italy will fail to meet its 2030 decarbonization targets,” the report said.
Clean energy is essential to reduce emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels and to maintain the international goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Italy, along with other G7 countries, committed last week to tripling renewable energy sources by 2030.
Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said the ban on ground-mounted panels on agricultural land will not stop the government from installing some 38 GW through photovoltaic plants by that date.
Monday’s ban is part of a bill that must be approved by parliament and may be amended before that.
