The Italian Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (MASE) has sent a revised proposal of its Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC or NECP) under which the country now wants to aim for 65% share of renewable energy in the national electricity consumption by 2030.
It would mean 40% share of renewables in gross final energy consumption. Renewables will contribute to 37% of heating and cooling sectors, 31% in transport and 42% of hydrogen for industrial use, according to a ministry statement.
Italian Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto described the revisions as hitting 'almost all the targets' set by the European legislation on environment and climate, while 'significantly exceeding' the EU targets in some cases.
"With this text, the result of intense work by MASE, want to indicate a path to the transition that is realistic and not unrealistic, and therefore sustainable for the Italian economic system," said Pichetto.
Once all requisite inputs are in, Italy expects to have final approval to the revised PNIEC by June 2024.
Italy's 2018 NECP is not aligned with the revised targets of the EU that are being raised to factor the energy crisis in the wake of the Russian aggression of Ukraine, according to local renewable energy associations. According to the SolarPower Europe's (SPE) latest Global Market Outlook for Solar Power 2023-2027, the country needs to install a minimum of 85 GW of new renewable energy capacity by 2030 to achieve REPowerEU targets, comprising 58 GW solar PV (see Global Solar Market Outlook 2023-2027).
Earlier this year in May 2023 at a conference Pichetto reportedly said the government was aiming for 80 GW renewables capacity over the next 7 to 8 years to 'overturn the proportion with fossil fuels'.
For the record, the country added 2.48 GW new solar in 2022, taking the national total for this energy generation source to exceed 25 GW, said Italia Solare (see Italy Installed 2.48 GW New Solar PV Capacity In 2022).