Italy’s energy management agency, Gestore dei Servizi Energetici (GSE), has allocated 1.5 GW of capacity for agrivoltaic (agriPV) projects in the country’s first dedicated auction.

The auction saw significant interest, with 540 projects approved from a pool of 643 bids, amounting to over 1.7 GW of capacity submitted.

Funded through Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), which earmarked €1.7 billion ($1.78 billion) for renewable energy projects, the initiative exceeded its original target of supporting over 1 GW of capacity.

Successful projects are expected to begin commercial operations by June 2026.

The ceiling tariff for solar systems of 300 kW in size and below was €0.093 ($0.098)/kWh; for systems of over 300 kW, the tariff was capped at €0.085($0.089)/kWh.

This tender came in the wake of Italy’s decision to ban ground-mounted solar PV installations on agricultural land earlier this year.

The policy drew criticism from Italia Solare, the national solar trade association, which argued it could lead to €60 billion ($63 billion) in lost private investments and tax revenues. However, the ban did not affect this tender, as its funding stemmed directly from the PNRR.

Under the tender, 270 projects with capacities under 1 MW were awarded a combined 178 MW at an average tariff of €88.92 ($93.43)/MWh.

Larger projects exceeding 1 MW accounted for nearly 1.4 GW, with an average size of 5 MW and a competitive price of €79.86 ($83.91)/MWh.

Regionally, Sicily led the capacity awards, securing 336 MW across 33 projects, followed by Apulia with 42 projects totaling 212 MW.

Calabria, however, recorded the highest number of projects overall, with 48 projects adding up to 149 MW. The south of Italy dominated the >1 MW category.

Only 19 of the approved projects will allocate part of their capacity for self-consumption. In the category of projects under 1 MW, this number increases to 38, with some utilizing their entire capacity for self-consumption.

Among the developers, GreenGo secured 23 MW across three projects in Sicily and Calabria, with plans to bring them online by 2025, ahead of the tender’s June 2026 deadline.

Last year, Italy approved the construction of 13 agrivoltaic parks with a combined capacity of 593.7 MW, mainly in the southern region of Puglia, which will combine power generation with agricultural activities and are expected to help Italy reach its renewable energy targets.

Mercom had previously reported on how adopting agrivoltaics could help solve the rising need for land to ensure food and energy security.