Italy FIT

Many countries around the world have implemented feed-in tariff (FIT) incentive regimes to foster the development of PV, and in some cases they have gone on to scale back those regimes, inflicting damage on those who invested based on those incentives. Some investors, seeking redress before arbitral tribunals, have relied on international treaties to make their claims.

The €5.4 billion program is expected to spur new growth in large scale PV while also providing incentives for rooftop systems. Originally scheduled for January, the country’s first technology neutral clean energy auctions – which will provide additional incentives EV charging-linked projects – may be held in the months ahead.

By means of orders no. 216, 217, 218 and 220/2018, published on 19 January 2018, the Italian Highest Administrative Court (Consiglio di Stato) granted injunctive relief to the owners of four photovoltaic plants under Conto Energia I and Conto Energia II that the GSE had found to be artificially fractioned.

By way of background, the Decree required solar plant operators to choose, by 30 November 2014, between new options to be implemented in relation to FIT allowances. However, all these options were detrimental to the solar operators operations.

In 2015, solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in Italy generated 24,676 GWh of electricity, representing 9.1 per cent of Italy’s domestic electricity production and 7.8 per cent of the country’s overall consumption.

GSE has also underlined that suspension will not cause any reduction of the incentives which the owners of the incentivized plants are entitled to receive.

The Ministerial Decree of 28 July 2005 (the original version of the Conto Energia I) provided for an annual adjustment of the FiT to account for inflation. The Ministerial Decree of 6 February 2006 removed this adjustment for inflation with retrospective effect. This even applied to PV plants that had already qualified for the FiT under the original version of the Conto Energia I.

The repeal of a so-called Robin Hood tax on Italian energy firms could offset recent reductions in the feed-in tariff, according to independent power producer Etrion.