The Head of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of the Vatican City State, Pope Francis has given his seal of approval to an agrivoltaic plant to ensure complete energy sustenance of the city state.

The project will ensure the electricity supply of an existing radio station on site within the extraterritorial area of Santa Maria di Galeria. The station is used to broadcast the Vatican Radio.

According to the official news portal of the Holy See or the government of the Catholic Church, Vatican News, the agrivoltaic project will be located at the edge of Rome on 424-hectare site.

The project has been assigned to the President of the Governorate of the Vatican City State and the President of the Heritage of the Apostolic See.

“We need to make a transition towards a sustainable development model that reduces greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, setting the objective of climate neutrality,” said the Pope in his Apostolic Letter Fratello Sole. “Humanity has the technological means necessary to face this environmental transformation and its pernicious ethical, social, economic, and political consequences and, among these, solar energy plays a fundamental role.”