The year 2022 has been an exceptional one for renewables in Europe, particularly wind and solar energy, which have provided critical support to Europe’s electricity system during a time of severe distress. These sources covered 24% of European electricity production and have avoided the importation of 70 billion cubic meters of gas, at a cost of almost 100 billion euros, according to the study “More renewables, Less inflation” by E3G and Ember.
The new installations in 2022
Last year there was a sharp increase in installations of renewable sources in Europe, with 15 GW of new wind farms and 41 GW of new photovoltaic capacity. Wind installations grew by 33% over the previous year, as reported by Wind Europe’s annual report, with Germany, Sweden, Finland, Spain and France leading the way.
The problem of long authorization times
A significant increase, despite the challenges along the supply chain, but still not sufficient to achieve the RePowerEu program objectives. This is mainly due to the slowness in obtaining authorizations. At the moment, in Europe there are 80 GW of wind projects blocked.
The leap forward of wind energy
As stated by Giles Dickson, CEO of WindEurope, the 33% increase in new installations demonstrates that the European wind industry is ready to brave the odds. However, it is necessary to streamline authorization processes and promote investments in the supply chainincluding factories, skilled workers, networks, raw materials and ships.
Even better solar energy
The growth of solar was even more significant, with an annual increase of 47% compared to the 28 GW installed in 2021, more than double compared to 2020.
As stated by SolarPower Europe, the strong 2022 results are just the beginning and the organization is confident that a further yearly increase in the industry will exceed all expectations, exceeding 50 GW of new capacity in 2023 and reaching 85 GW in 2026.
Germany confirms itself at the top
According to the report, Germany still leads the installations with an increase of nearly 8 GW of PV capacity in 2022. Spain follows with 7.5 GW, Poland with 4.9 GW, the Netherlands with 4 GW and France with 2.7 GW. Italy, on the other hand, continues to progress slowly in the renewables sector, especially with regard to wind, which did not install even half a GW of new capacity last year.
The situation in Italy
In 2022, in Italy, wind energy production increased by only 456 megawatts, bringing the total power to 11.7 gigawatts, according to Anev data. Solar, on the other hand, had a more significant growth of 2.6 gigawatts, surpassing 1 gigawatt of annual production for the first time since 2014despite regulatory uncertainty and difficulties in obtaining authorisations.
Need to streamline permissions
The report also underlines that Italy has the potential to grow further in the renewable energy sector, especially in the solar sector, but it is necessary to introduce measures to simplify authorization procedures and facilitate investments, so as to reach European targets and become a leader in the field of clean energy sources. Furthermore, the success of the small-scale PV segment demonstrates that incentives such as the Superbonus 110% and high electricity prices can help foster the growth of the sector and improve the attractiveness of the self-consumption business model.
Future prospects for Italy
Anev predicts a positive future for solar energy in Italy. According to their calculations, the country could install between 16.4 and 34 gigawatts of new solar capacity from 2023 to 2026. If Italy reaches the target of 85 gigawatts of renewables set by the RePowerEU plan, it could have a clean energy production equal to 84% of the electricity production mix (compared to the current 36%), with important environmental and economic consequences.
The environmental impact
In summary, if Italy achieves the goal of installing 85 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030, there would be important positive effects from both an environmental and an economic point of view. There would be a reduction in CO2 emissions, an estimated 309 billion in investments and an increase of 470,000 jobs in the renewable energy supply chain and related industries. This would also lead to an increase in added value for the country’s economy, equivalent to 2.2% of GDP.
The problem of bureaucracy
Permit barriers are still a barrier for larger PV projects that need to be installed on the ground. Despite the demand, authorizations are issued sparingly and often the final decision of the superintendencies is negative. In Italy, there is still a cultural barrier that resists, often due to the “sindrome Nimby” and false myths about renewables, such as that they take up space and take away land from agriculture.
