Italy installed 433 MW of solar in Q1

Italy installed around 433 MW of solar power in the first three months of 2022, according to provisional figures released by the Italian renewable energy association, ANIE Rinnovabili, and data from grid operator Terna.

Installations rose significantly from 152 MW in the same period last year, and 115 MW in the first quarter of 2020. March was the month with the highest growth this year, at 241 MW, followed by February and January, with 103 MW and 89 MW, respectively.

If this growth trend continues over the rest of the year, Italy could see the largest amount of newly installed PV capacity over the past decade. Much will depend, however, on how many large-scale PV projects will be completed. In 2021, the country added 937 MW of solar and in 2020, it deployed 625 MW.

Residential PV systems up to 20 kW in size still account for the largest share of the total, with around 190 MW of capacity. PV systems ranging from 20 kW to 100 kW accounted for 35 MW of the quarterly total. Installations of commercial and industrial PV systems ranging from 100 kW to 1 MW reached 85 MW in the first three months of the year, while solar parks above 1 MW in size totaled 123 MW.

The parts of the country with the highest development volumes were the Latium region, which brought 93 MW MW of new solar online, and the northern region of Lombardia, with 66 MW. Veneto and Piedmont finished the quarter with 45 MW and 40 MW, respectively.

The provisional figures indicate that Italy exceeded around 23 GW of solar capacity at the end of March. The nation’s National Integrated Plan for Climate and Energy aims for 50 GW of solar by 2030.