Wind power in Italy
General
The European Directive 2001/77/EC (27 September 2001) demands Italy to aim for a RES-E share of 25% of gross electricity consumption by 2010. No target exists for renewable heat in Italy. For biofuels, Italy’s Decree 128/2005 set a reference value of 1% by 2005, which is lower than the 2% reference value in the EU Directive. Main support mechanism for renewable electricity in Italy is the obligation on electricity generators to produce a certain amount of RES-E, based on Tradable Green Certificates. In 2006, the target percentage was 3.05%. In case of non-compliance, sanctions are foreseen, but enforcement in practice is considered difficult because of ambiguities in the legislation. Regional and local governments have introduced some measures to promote RES. These have taken the form of incentives for solar thermal heating and compulsory installation of solar panels in new or renovated buildings. On January the 1st of 2008, the law no. 244/2007, also known as the 2008 Budget Law (Budget Law), came into force. The Budget Law introduces many important changes affecting the renewables sector.
According to the Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources the target for the share of energy from renewable sources in gross final consumption of energy in the year 2020 for Italy is 17% (in the year 2005 the share was 5.2%). The Directive has a mandatory 10 % target for transport to be achieved by all Member States, which refers to renewable sources as a whole, not biofuels alone.
Renewable energy projections according to the National Renewable Energy Action Plan for Italy
The National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP) for Italy was submitted in August 2010. The target according to Annex I of Directive 2009/28/EC is 17% for the year 2020 and the projected NREAP share in that year exactly matches the target. According to the projection, the most important contribution in the year 2020 is expected from biomass (renewable heating and cooling) (5670 ktoe, 25% of all renewable energy). Second important contribution is expected from hydropower (42.0 TWh or 3611 ktoe, 16% of all renewable energy). The third largest contribution is from renewable energy from heat pumps (2900 ktoe, 13% of all renewable energy). Wind power contributes with 12.7 GW (20.0 TWh) in the year 2020 (onshore wind 12.0 GW and 18.0 TWh, offshore wind 0.7 GW and 2.0 TWh). For solar photovoltaic the 2020 contribution is projected to be 8.0 GW (9.7 TWh). For solar thermal the 2020 contribution is projected to be 1586 ktoe. The two most important biofuels are projected to contribute 1880 ktoe (biodiesel) and 600 ktoe (bioethanol / bio-ETBE) by 2020. The renewable electricity production from solid biomass amounts to 7.9 TWh (679 ktoe) and for biogas it is expected to be 6.0 TWh (518 ktoe). The consumption of renewable heat is expected to amount to 5254 ktoe for solid biomass and 266 ktoe for biogas.
Renewable Electricity: wind power
The 2008 Finance Law (Budget Law) modified the calculation for acquiring green certificates. Since the 1st of January 2008, a factor is applied to electricity production to define the total amount of the certificates awarded. For onshore wind energy, the situation remains the same with a factor of 1 whereas offshore wind energy benefits from a factor of 1.1. Each certificate produced is valid for a period of three years. Wind power installations up to 200 kW capacity can opt for feed-in tariffs (that include the selling value) for a period of 15 years. The feed-in tariff for wind up to 200 kW is eurocents 30/kWh.
Future programme changes expected
Currently, the principal support mechanism of the green certificate scheme is being negotiated for the year 2012 and beyond in the context of the implementation of the EU directive 2009/28/EC (schema di decreto legislativo recante autorizzazione della direttiva 2009/28/CE del parlamento europeo). The green certficates may possibly be abolished.
Sources
EurObserv'ER Wind Energy Barometer, http://www.eurobserv-er.org/pdf/baro189.asp, February 2009
EurObserv'ER Wind Energy Barometer, http://www.eurobserv-er.org/pdf/baro195.asp, February 2010
EurObserv'ER Wind Energy Barometer, http://www.eurobserv-er.org, February 2011
Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and amending and subsequently repealing Directives 2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC (Entry into force on June 25th, 2009), download from http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32009L0028:EN:NOT
Gestore dei Servizi Elettrici (GSE), http://www.gse.it/Documents/GSEactivities.pdf (sourced January 2010)
World Wind Energy Association (WWEA), Wind Energy International 2009/2010, http://www.wwindea.org, May 2009