European energy builds Italy's largest agri-voltaic plant in Sicily

European energy, a Danish company with substantial industrial interests in Italy, has given the final go-ahead to the investment (over EUR 200 million) for a 225-megawatt agri-pv project near Vizzini, Sicily. The decision comes after the company was awarded, at the recent FerX contract-for-difference auction, five solar projects spread across Sicily, Apulia and Molise, totalling 513 megawatts and around EUR 500 million in total financial commitment. Of these, the Vizzini park, on which Ee has decided to channel the most substantial investment, is also included.

Once operational, the company's top management assures, the project (authorised in 2023) will form the largest solar park in Italy, combining large-scale solar energy production with continued agricultural use 'and supporting Italy's renewable energy goals'. The development envisages elevated photovoltaic structures to allow agricultural activities to continue, ensuring dual land use and long-term productivity.

'An investment like the one that has been decided in Vizzini, which will combine clean energy and valuable agricultural crops,' says Alessandro Migliorini, director and country manager for Italy at European energy, 'is also of great value in terms of industrial supply chain and foreign investment in Italy. Given the nature of the project and its size, it will be necessary to invest over EUR 200 million and, it must be stressed, most of these resources will be tied to direct investments in Italy'.

The technological component linked to photovoltaic panels, in fact, continues the manager, 'weighs in at about one third. While the specific skills linked to civil works, technical design, agronomic studies and so on, will contribute to the growth, in the future, of a chain of skills, on the agrivoltaic theme, that are important for a country like Italy, which combines record solar radiation with a great tradition of valuable crops. It is also for this reason that European energy wanted to be among the founding members of an association, called Agrivoltaica, dedicated to the development of initiatives in this sector, to act as a bridge between industry, sector operators, institutions and authorisation bodies'.

The integrated design of the project on Vizzini, Migliorini adds, 'demonstrates how it is possible to maintain agricultural use within the development of large-scale photovoltaic installations'. Once operational, the installation, he concludes, will exceed the size of previous Italian grid-connected installations.