Italy Attracts 17.5GW of Solar PV Proposals in New Renewable Energy Auction

Italy’s latest renewable energy auction has received more than 1,300 expressions of interest from solar companies, representing a combined proposed capacity of 17.5GW of photovoltaic power.

Organized by Gestore dei Servizi Energetici (GSE), the auction is the first to be held under Italy’s new “FER X Transitory” ministerial decree, marking a significant policy shift in the country’s clean energy push.

The strike price for this round has been set at €76.369/MWh  (approximately US$89.3/MWh), with a defined floor and ceiling of €62.05/MWh and €90.689/MWh, respectively.

Selected solar PV projects will have a window between 14 July and 12 September 2025 to formally submit their participation requests.

The government has set an award cap of 8GW, with a minimum target of 1GW. Notably, the minimum threshold of 600MW is almost double the capacity awarded in each of the previous two auctions, which saw 278.5MW and 321.6MW of solar PV awarded.

Italy’s solar market has shown robust growth in recent years. In 2024, utility-scale solar installations increased by 163% year-on-year, surpassing 3GW of added capacity, even as residential installations declined by approximately 25%, according to national industry body Italia Solare.

Additionally, earlier this year, the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (MASE) launched a new agrivoltaics (agriPV) tender, allocating €323 million after the previous scheme failed to disburse all of its €1.7 billion budget.