Renewables, record photovoltaics in Lombardy: residential reaches 33%

Primacy in photovoltaics for Lombardy. Terna's numbers in hand (updated to 30 March 2024), the region boasts an installed power of 4.3 GW, derived from 279,288 photovoltaic plants, out of a total of 32 GW accumulated at national level. This exceeds Puglia's 3.4 GW, Veneto's 3.3 GW and Emilia-Romagna's 3.1 GW. Counting also 5.7 GW of installed hydroelectric power out of the 21.7 national ones and 0.8 GW of geothermal and bioenergy out of the 4.9 national ones, the total sum of installed capacity in Lombardy of production from renewable sources - which also includes 0.06 MW of wind power from 6 plants - reaches 10.8 GW. Puglia, in second place in the ranking, is at 6.4 GW.

"It is a strong region in many sectors, it has many companies, it has 10 million inhabitants: photovoltaics has always been an area where numbers have followed industry and population statistics," comments Paolo Rocco Viscontini, president of Italia Solare, an association of companies in the sector. "Of the cumulative total connected, Lombardy covers 13.6 per cent of the national power and 16.5 per cent in terms of the number of plants. These are quotas that improve if we look at the latest installations, in a context of growing solar power compared to the same months of 2022, as Rocco Viscontini recounts: "In the first quarter of 2024, Lombardy achieved 304 MW out of a national total of 1.7 GW: this is 18% of power. Last year, in the first three months, it had reached 190 MW: the jump is 60%. The average power of a plant is 20 kW: there are residential plants, but industrial plants are also strong, as is to be expected given the industrial strength of the region. An average of 3.3 MW was installed for 165 connected systems per day in the first quarter. Good numbers in a period of typically low activity, it will be interesting to see what happens between April and June: I think they will be lower numbers because certainly the rain in recent weeks has had an impact on installations. I then expect a more noticeable slowdown towards the end of the year. We fear the impact of the Transition 5.0 plan, which is holding up work. We are waiting for the implementing decrees. Generous credits are granted if you use European panels, which are not many. And then you can build the plant after doing the efficiency upgrading, which takes months.

Lombardy is not characterised by large installations: residential (20 kW is the typical size) accounts for 33% of Lombardy's total power, which will fall to 29% in Q1 2024 with the loss of the 110% bonus. Plants between 20 kW and 1 MW, the industrial ones, account for 56% of the cumulative power and 46% of that in Q1. Those over 1 MW, 10% of the total power, on the other hand, rose to 25% from January to March, reaching 77 MW. "Despite the great potential of the Mantua, Lodi, Cremona, and Pavia countryside, in Lombardy the situation is not idyllic for the construction of large plants, which would be precious for guaranteeing a greater increase in installed power and for giving Lombardy's inhabitants the chance to pay a lower price for energy next year, since they will no longer pay the Pun (single national price, ndr) but a zonal price that originates from the supply and demand of a specific area," explains the president of Italia Solare: "There is a mistrust towards photovoltaic plants on agricultural land, which they would occupy to a minimum. Moreover, the regional resolution of 26/02/2024 no. XII/1949 has placed many constraints on photovoltaics, in short banning ground-mounted photovoltaics in favour of agri-voltaics, which cost more. The risk is to look for industrial land and reclaimed areas. That is all very well, but the areas are not sufficient, and the complexities and costs greater. Photovoltaics has reached a competitive price, let's exploit it. Without the need for public subsidies'.

Rocco Viscontini also touches on the chapter on storage, which is necessary to balance the intermittent production of renewables: 'Of the 3.4 GW of power of storage systems as of 31 December 2023, 94% is associated with solar plants. The residential boom with the superbonus has led to a significant growth: 601 MW are in Lombardy, 19% of the national total. The same share can be counted on the total Italian capacity of 6.38 GWh and the 519,000 installations, of which 97,000 are in Lombardy, which confirms itself as the first region in Italy in this as well. The challenge, even here, is to be able to build larger plants: with the low battery prices, we are beginning to see important projects.