Italy has 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.

The projects were approved by the country’s Council of Ministers, who announced that these projects would not require further environmental clearance as the resolution of ecological compatibility replaced the necessary environmental impact assessments.

A dozen of the approved projects will be built in Puglia, while one will be installed in the neighboring region of Basilicata.

One of the proposed projects in Puglia includes a 48.6 MW agrivoltaic project in the municipalities of Borgo Mezzanone-Macchia Rotonda in Foggia province. Another 48.3 MW project–Stornara 1– will be constructed in the Stornara municipality of Foggia.

The photovoltaic project in Basilicata will be located in Tolve, in the province of Potenza.

Italy aims to generate 55% of its electricity from renewables by 2030. The Italian government has presented the National Recovery and Resilience Plan to make the post-pandemic recovery as green as possible.

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

The European Parliament and the Council provisionally agreed to raise the European Union’s binding renewable target to a minimum of 42.5% by 2030, up from 32%. It would mean doubling the existing share of renewables in the EU. The European Commission said that negotiators agreed that the EU would aim to reach 45% of renewables by 2030.

A recent Legal and General Investment Management report said that Europe would experience high energy prices in the coming years if sufficient decarbonization funding is delayed by another decade.