- Italia Solare counts Italy to have connected 1.72 GW of new PV capacity in Q1/2024
- Installations were led by the C&I segment thanks to high electricity prices
- The residential segment declined by 15% YoY as it represented 32% of the new additions
Italy’s new grid-connected solar PV capacity additions in Q1/2024 increased by over 62% Year-over-Year (YoY) with 1,721 MW, taking the country’s cumulative installed PV capacity to 32 GW at the end of March 2024, says Italia Solare.
The new additions during Q1 this year were led by the commercial and industrial (C&I) sector which contributed 595 MW or 35% of the quarterly total. These installations between 20 kW and 1 MW range grew by 106% YoY.
The main growth driver for this segment was the increase in the wholesale electricity price referred to as Prezzo Unico Nazionale (PUN), in 2022 which returned to average monthly values below €100/MWh only at the beginning of 2024.
“The effect of high energy prices has translated into strong growth in C&I connections until mid-2023. The discrepancy in timing between the increase in the PUN and the construction of the plants is due to the technical times required for the commissioning of the works, the construction and connection of the plants,” explains the association.
Utility-scale installations with more than 1 MW capacity also registered an impressive annual growth of 373% with a combined 579 MW, representing 34% of Q1 additions. According to the solar association Italia Solare, this strong growth was driven by 8 projects with more than 10 MW capacity each, a combined 281 MW. These were installed in Lombardy, Lazio, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Sicily, Sardinia, and Puglia.
However, the hitherto strong residential segment, with installation sizes ranging up to 20 kW, registered a drop of 15% in new capacity additions. It connected 547 MW, a 4% increase sequentially, representing 32% of the Q1 total.
Nonetheless, the association does not see it as a real decline in residential system connections despite the end of the 110% Superbonus scheme whose deadline was extended to December 31, 2023.
Recently, the Italian government issued a decree to introduce a ban on the installation of new ground-mounted PV systems and the extension of existing ones in areas classified as agricultural. Italia Solare believes this will lead to a loss of around €60 billion in private and public investment (see Italian Solar Industry Concerned At Blocking Agricultural Land Use).
