Italy awards solar power in the first "Not made in China" auction

In its first auction, Italy allocated more than 1.1 gigawatts to 88 solar projects that were built without any equipment made in China. The average price per megawatt-hour was 66.38 euro.

According to the data of Italy's electricity service agency (GSE), this tariff is 17 percent higher than the average price in a renewable auction held earlier this year, which had no restrictions on equipment origin.

The auction was one of the first in Europe to use non-price criteria that were linked to the European Union’s Net-Zero Industry Act. This package of measures aims to reduce reliance on cheap renewable components imported from China.

According to Green Horse Advisory, over 95% of the?solar cells and modules installed in europe are imported. China is expected to supply 94% of these modules and cells by 2023.

Enel Green Power is on the list of auction winners, as are J.P. Morgan's developer Sonnedix, and KKR's power group ContourGlobal.

Mario Volpe, Sonnedix's Representative Director for Italy, said: "This is an excellent result for the Italian system and energy consumers."

Volpe said that the recent Italian auctions for renewable energy, combined with the October awarding of battery capacity, have attracted significant investment. This is estimated to be around?10 billion euro ($12 billion), and many projects are now in the construction phase.

Developers must bring plants online in 36 months under the framework of the auction.

Italy awarded nearly?9 Gigawatts in renewable capacity in this auction, and another one held in early December to ordinary solar?and wind plants.

ContourGlobal's Country Manager Italy, Paola Agrati said: "These schemes reduce curtailment risks, bring affordable and reliable capacity into the system and lower the costs of new clean energy investments." Reporting by Francesca Landini, Editing by Kirsten Doovan and PhilippaFletcher.

(source: Reuters)