Italy

Wind Energy in Italy

In 2017, new installed wind power capacity in Italy totaled 253 MW. Cumulative installed capacity at the end of the year reached approximately 9.5 GW.

Italy deployed 114 new turbines, bringing the total number of installed wind turbines over 6,734. Wind-generated electricity accounted for 17.5 TWh, corresponding to about 5.6% of the country’s total demand. As usual, foreign producers supplied most of the new multi-megawatt turbines.

In the period 2016-2017, Italy set an 800-MW quota for land-based wind power capacity assigned through tender. At the end of 2017, the new expected decree, which sets the rules for renewable production incentives, had not yet been published. The new National Energy Strategy (SEN) was published on 10 November 2017, setting a wind energy production target of 40 TWh (mostly from land-based plants) by 2030, including the repowering and revamping of end-of-life wind farms.

To learn more about Italy's wind energy sector, please review their chapter in the IEA Wind TCP 2017 Annual Report.

National Targets

The SEN 2017 outlines national objectives and policies for Italian energy systems by 2030. Renewable energy sources will play a central role to reach or exceed the environmental and decarbonization objectives by 2030 as defined at European level, and in line with the COP21 targets, in a sustainable way.

In 2009, Italy set a binding national target of 17% of overall annual energy consumption from renewable energy sources (RES), which included a target of 12.68 GW (12.0 GW land-based and 0.680 GW offshore) installed wind power capacity and a target of 20 TWh/yr (18 TWh/yr land-based and 2 TWh/yr offshore) for electricity production.

In order to reach the new target of 55% renewable penetration on the national electricity demand) by 2030, the SEN set a target of 40 TWh/yr of wind energy production (mostly land-based). This includes repowering and revamping of end-of-life wind farms. Therefore, Italy can expect significant increase in wind power capacity in the coming years.

Operational Details

According to the National Wind Energy Association (ANEV), Italy installed a new net wind power capacity of 252.85 MW in 2017. Cumulative installed capacity at the end of 2017 reached 9.50 GW, including decommissioning and repowering. All of Italy’s current wind power capacity is land-based. The annual installed wind power capacity is substantially driven by the annual quota introduced in the 2012 decree.

Most installations are in the southern regions of Italy, due to wind resource availability. In 2017, new wind power capacity was mainly installed in the Basilicata (59%), Calabria (19%), and Campania (11%) regions.

In 2017, 14 wind farms were grid-connected with capacities between 0.8 MW and 60 MW. Italy installed 114 new turbines, bringing the country’s total to 6,734 units. The wind turbines installed during the year averaged 1.94 MW (maximum 3.2 MW); the average size of all wind turbines in Italy is 1.4 MW.

National R,D&D Priorities and Budget

There is no coordination of wind energy R,D&D activities at the national level; however, many organizations are involved in wind energy research. Each research organization or university sets its own budget for wind energy R&D. Therefore, it’s quite difficult to give a representative value for the whole budget or to evaluate trends.

In 2017, Italy promoted Mission Innovation—an initiative which aims to reinvigorate and accelerate global clean energy innovation. Research funds for affordable clean energy are expected to increase before 2021.