Italy installed approximately 3.34 GW of new PV capacity in the first six months of 2024, according to a new report by the Italian PV association Italia Solare.
During the same period in 2023, the country deployed around 2.3 GW of solar power. Over the full year of 2023, the total new PV capacity reached 5.23 GW, compared to 2.48 GW in 2022 and 0.94 GW in 2021.
The country’s cumulative PV capacity stood at 33.62 GW by the end of June.
The newly installed capacity in the first half of the year includes 29% (985 MW) from residential PV systems under 20 kW and 35% (1,155 MW) from commercial and industrial (C&I) systems between 20 kW and 200 kW. The remaining 36% (1,201 MW) was contributed by utility-scale plants exceeding 1 MW.
This increase was driven by the connection of 17 plants with a power output greater than 10 MW, totalling 540 MW. These facilities were installed in Lombardy (18 MW), Lazio (215 MW), Friuli-Venezia Giulia (24 MW), Sicily (65 MW), Sardinia (177 MW), and Puglia (38 MW).
“The data demonstrate how the utility-scale sector is finally growing, and the authorisations granted are beginning to translate into plants built and connected to the grid,” said Paolo Rocco Viscontini, president of Italia Solare, while also emphasising that the process remains exceedingly lengthy.
There was significant growth in connections of plants between 1 MW and 10 MW, with capacity increasing by 122%, from 297 MW in the first half of 2023 to 661 MW in the first six months of 2024. Six regions – Lombardy, Lazio, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont, and Sardinia – accounted for 63% of the newly installed capacity this year.
These six regions have installed 63% of this year’s newly installed capacity: Lombardy (554 MW), Lazio (426 MW), Veneto (329 MW), Emilia-Romagna (304 MW), Piedmont (257 MW), and Sardinia (242 MW).
“In these regions, during the first six months of 2024, 2.11 GW was connected, of which 24% (515 MW) is attributable to the residential sector, 34% (717 MW) is attributable to the C&I sector, and 42% (880 MW) is related to the utility-scale sector,” said the association.
