Renewables, Sardinia maps out eligible areas. More controls on works in progress

A map of suitable areas for plants intended for the production of renewable energy and, at the same time, checks on those that have been authorised for some time and whose work is in progress. In Sardinia, the Region is trying to 'put order' on the framework of the areas to be allocated for the construction of new plants for the production of energy from wind and sun.

"Defining the suitable areas," emphasises Emanuele Cani, regional councillor for industry, "means finally putting an end to a situation of non-government of the matter that has led to the state we are in. According to Terna's latest report, the 'race for renewables' records 824 connection requests (547 solar, 248 onshore wind and 29 offshore wind). A situation that has prompted the Region to pass a regulation (challenged by the Government) suspending new projects for 18 months pending the definition of suitable areas. It is precisely for this reason that the process of identifying and writing down the areas where the plants can be located has already begun. On 30 July, the coordination group of the 11 councillors involved in identifying suitable areas for the production of energy from renewable sources was set up. The process also involves the organisations that bring together the local authorities, starting with Anci.

'The primary objective of identifying suitable areas,' emphasises the councillor for local authorities, finance and urban planning Francesco Spanedda, 'is to ensure an energy transition that fully respects the territory and its specificities, making it possible, among other things, to replace the production of the Portovesme and Porto Torres coal-fired power plants and identifying the most suitable sites to minimise land consumption.

And while there are protests in the streets and even a collection of signatures for a popular initiative bill, data on the state of the art also arrives from the Region. That is, on the projects underway. "Many people are asking us how many of the authorised plants have already started work before 3 July and are therefore not currently blocked by law 5," stresses president Alessandra Todde. "Unfortunately, until recently, the numbers that should have been available in the Region were not. We had to retrieve them from patchy data sources that we are working to make structured and immediately supportive so that we can make even more timely decisions'.

So the numbers: there are 37 plants 'with notification of the start of work before 3 July 2024. Of these, 4 projects concern wind power plants authorised in 2015, 1 in 2020, 1 in 2021, 1 in 2022. On the list are 33 photovoltaic projects, 1 of which was authorised in 2019, 3 in 2020, 21 in 2021, 7 in 2022, 1 in 2023. 'For all these plants,' he concludes, 'the Forestry Corps, which I thank, is proceeding to verify how many have actually started work and whether there are any violations'. The president announced that there will be 'the most strenuous guardianship of the landscape, the environment, the territory and the health of citizens'.