The steep increase in energy costs, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, risks crippling the renewable energy sector in Italy, which paradoxically should be the ‘engine’ of Italy’s energy transition,” said Veronica Pitea, president of Aceper, in a statement. “If the government does not heed our appeal,” Pitea continued, “we will be forced to shut down over 10,000 photovoltaic plants across Italy, which produce over 900 GWh of clean electricity from renewable sources, enough to power the equivalent of six large cities like Rome, Milan, Naples, Bologna, Bari, and Palermo combined.”

The request to the government is to amend the Sostegni TER Decree and Article 36 linked to the 2020 budget law, “by providing alternative measures for renewable energy producers (for example, ‘revamping’ the plants, which means replacing parts and repairing them to restore optimal production),” otherwise, according to Pitea, “it would become unsustainable to keep our plants open” (ANSA).