“Checkmate for renewables 2023”: the map of the plants blocked by bureaucracy in Italy

In Italy, the development of renewables continues to be an obstacle course. The two main bottlenecks of the authorization processes are the two main bottlenecks of the authorization processes due to obsolete and fragmented rules, the slowness of the authorization procedures, the obstacles and bureaucratic lengths of the Regions and Superintendencies for cultural heritage. The end result is that in our peninsula the effective creation of new plants from clean sources remains timid and unsatisfactory, almost a mirage in 2022. The numbers of the new Legambiente report speak clearly Checkmate to renewables 2023 presented this morning at the K.EY Fair in Rimini together with a package of proposals and an analysis of 4 national laws and 13 regional laws which slow down the flow of clean sources.

To date in the Peninsula are 1364 the plants on the waiting list, i.e. in the EIA phase, of verify of Subjectability to EIA, preliminary assessment and Single Provision in Environmental Matters at state level. 76% distributed between Puglia, Basilicata, Sicily and Sardinia. Faced with this high number of projects under evaluation – and despite the simplifications initiated by the former Draghi government and the newly established establishment and strengthening of the two VIA-SEA Commissions which have the task of issuing an opinion on large strategic plants for the energy future of the country – there are very few authorizations issued by the Regions in the last 4 years. In 2022, only 1% of photovoltaic plant projects received authorization.

This is the lowest figure in the last 4 years if we consider that in 2019 41% of the applications received authorization, to then progressively drop to 19% in 2020, to 9% in 2021. Even worse are the data from on-shore wind power with a percentage of authorizations issued in 2019 of 6%, 4% in 2020, 1% in 2021 to reach 0% in 2022.

On the whole, worrying data if we consider that in recent years both the projects presented and the requests for connection to the national electricity grid of renewable energy plantsthe latter went from 168 GW as at 31 December 2021 to over 303 GW as at 31 January 2023. Another alarm bell is also represented by the slowness of installations, as emerges from the latest Terna data, just 3,035 MW in 2022 – and the production incapacity of the overall fleet to make up for the reduction in production. Renewable sources, apart from photovoltaics, all recorded a negative sign in 2022.

L’hydroelectric, thanks to the drought emergency, recorded a decrease of 37.7% to which must be added the drop of 13.1% in terms of production from pumping which brings the contribution of renewables, compared to total consumption, to 32%. That is at 2012 levels.

In this obstacle course, in addition to the slowness of the authorization procedures and the excessive bureaucracy of Regions and Superintendencies for cultural heritage, the nos of the municipal administrations and the local oppositions NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) and NIMTO (Not In My Terms of Office) also weigh. Obstacles that Legambiente also tells in updated map symbolic places with stories, which come from the north to the south of the peninsula, of blocked projects and regional and local regulations that hinder renewables.

Twenty-four new stories synthesized, which are added to the 20 of last year. Among the most emblematic cases are those of Puglia, Tuscany and Sardinia.

Faced with this picture, Legambiente relaunches its proposals today to accelerate the development of renewables in Italy and the effective construction of plants starting since the update of the Guidelines for the authorization of new plants stopped in 2010 and a reorganization of regulations to arrive, through joint work, between the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security, the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy and the Ministry of Culture, to arrive at a Consolidated Text that simplifies the procedures of authorization of the plants, unambiguously defines the roles and responsibilities of the various state bodies, gives certain times to the procedures. In this match remains central the public debate, a strategic tool both for improving the social acceptability of projects and for speeding up authorization processes and avoiding useless disputes.

“To the Meloni government – declares the national president of Legambiente Stephen Ciafani – we reiterate once again that the country must not become the hub of gas, but that of renewables. If we really want to fight the climate crisis, accelerate the ecological transition and achieve the decarbonisation objectives indicated by Europe, Italy must firmly focus on renewables, efficiency, self-production, electricity grids and storage. In this process, it is essential that the Government implement a short, medium and long-term policy also with respect to the decarbonization objectives that can no longer be postponed. First of all, it is necessary to simplify the process of authorization processes to ensure certainty of timing and strengthen the offices of the Regions that issue authorizations so that they can better manage the projects that are accumulating. It is necessary to rearrange the legislation on renewables and update the PNIEC by responding to the new energy scenario which will have to evolve towards the configuration of new increasingly renewable landscapes and thinking both of the decarbonisation objectives for 2035 and of the best way to integrate them into the territories”.

“Renewable sources, together with serious and forward-looking energy efficiency policies, represent a strategic key not only for decarbonising the energy sector, an absolute priority in the fight against the climate crisis, but also for bringing structural benefits to territories and families and to create opportunities of growth and innovation in every sector.If it is true that there is no perfect system – he comments Katiuscia Heronational energy manager of Legambiente – it is equally true that these plants can be integrated in the best possible way and be an added value for the citizens who live in those territories. For this reason it is essential not to weaken a precious tool such as that of public debate, as the Meloni government risks doing with the new proposal of the Procurement Code. The participation of the territories and their protagonism are an essential part of the just energy transition”.

Stories of blocks to renewables

Among the stories told by Legambiente, there is, for example, the story of theagri-voltaic system of the power of 28.38 MW to be built on 45 hectares between Municipalities of Cartoceto and Fano, in the Marches, which have expressed a negative opinion with respect to the project also confirmed by the refusal of the Region in the EIA phase. The reason for the opposition is linked to the concern for maintaining the agricultural vocation of the area following the completion of the work.

In Umbria the Regional Regulation n. 4 of 12 July 2022 limits the installation of photovoltaic and agrivoltaic systems in agricultural and industrial areas by imposing land occupation limits in some cases more stringent than those in force up to now.

In Puglia to hinder renewables are also NIMBY syndromes. Fate that has suffered the Odra Energy project which provides for an offshore plant with 90 floating turbines of 1.3 GW of clean energy, about 13 km from the Adriatic coast between Porto Badisco and Santa Maria di Leuca, ostracized due to its impact on the landscape. Then there is the case of SIN (Site of National Interest) of Brindisi where a 300 megawatt photovoltaic park has been proposed which could represent an example of useful recovery of polluted and non-reclaimable areas. Since 2007, the Ministry of the Environment has prescribed a risk analysis that has never been performed and that in the face of significantly growing characterizations on the environmental matrices, the remediation does not reach 10%: in these conditions ARPA cannot express opinions on the many projects of RES plants submitted to its attention and we arrive at the paradox that, despite the presence of a formal commitment from companies interested in taking on reclamation works, projects that are sometimes included in the PNRR are blocked or even rejected. Added to these is a large list of projects blocked during the regional process on which the Council of Ministers had to express their opinion in order to unblock them. For Puglia, we are talking about 15 on-shore wind projects for a total of over 630 MW of installable power.

Strong hostilities too in Sardinia. Victims of the blockades are not only projects for new renewable plants but also those for the repowering of pre-existing plants.

Another story comes from Tuscany but with a happy ending. We are talking about the wind farm of the Agsm Aim group located in the municipalities of Vicchio and Dicomano. Here the oppositions and obstacles also arrive in the evaluation phase with EIA commissions presenting 64 requests for integration, we arrive at the public inquiry and a further 360 requests for integration but which is finally starting to be implemented.

Counterexamples to take as a model: Two good practices told by Legambiente. That of Campania, where before 2021 there were 183 applications for authorization for plants from renewable sources stopped, some even since 2006. The Region intervened on Regional Law n.37 of 2018 and thanks to the modification made, it was possible to reopen a call for all projects that were blocked. In Calabria from 16 May 2022 the Region has ordered that the Single Authorization procedures for plants from renewable sources and the related procedures will be much easier.