The Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security recently announced a newly revised energy and climate plan, which has been submitted to the European Commission for review. Compared with the version 3 years ago, the goals in the revised plan have been improved: Italy hopes that by 2030, renewable energy can generate 65% of electricity and account for 40% of total energy consumption, while green hydrogen will Meet 42% of industrial needs. Italy's Environment and Energy Security Minister Gilberto Fratin also said earlier that the country could close coal-fired power stations in 2024, a year earlier than originally planned, if gas prices remain at current low levels.
As one of the important agricultural countries in Europe, Italy vigorously promotes the construction of agricultural photovoltaic projects, and relevant sites can be engaged in agricultural activities while meeting the needs of photovoltaic power generation. Enel announced in March this year that it will build the country's largest agricultural photovoltaic power station in the Lazio region where the capital Rome is located. After the power station is completed, the annual power generation will reach 280 GWh, which can meet the energy needs of about 111,000 local households and reduce about 130,000 tons of carbon emissions.
In terms of green hydrogen production, in April this year, the European Union approved a 450 million euro green hydrogen energy plan in Italy. In the future, Italy will increase investment in green hydrogen production, storage and transportation, and hydrogenation equipment. The Italian government also announced that it will invest 300 million euros to carry out hydrogen energy train pilots and related supporting facilities in some areas. Two green hydrogen projects in Sicily and the southern city of Taranto have also received public funding from the European Union. In addition, car hydrogen refueling stations have also been completed in Venice, Rome and other cities.
The Italian government has introduced a number of initiatives to encourage the development of renewable energy. The Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security signed a decree this year to promote photovoltaic, wind energy, hydropower and biomass energy to residents in the form of electricity price incentives and subsidies, and will allocate 2.2 billion euros to subsidize community renewable energy facilities. Build and update. At the same time, the Italian government announced a subsidy of 1.1 billion euros to encourage the installation of high-efficiency and innovative photovoltaic modules in agricultural photovoltaic projects; another 1.5 billion euros in subsidies are used to help agricultural enterprises install photovoltaic systems on their roofs, and these enterprises will receive income from electricity sales after they are connected to the grid .
Italy has also continued to increase research and development in renewable energy technologies. In 2019, the Italian New Energy and Environment Committee proposed a three-year research plan on the main components of solar thermal power plants. The committee intends to establish an experimental platform in Rome for the study of solar-powered industrial thermal systems. At present, the city of Partana, Sicily has built Italy's first solar-thermal-photovoltaic hybrid power station. According to reports, the power station can meet the electricity demand of about 1/3 of the local households, and can store energy, and can run at full load for about 15 hours without the sun.
Giorgio Gratti, director of the Energy Technology and Renewable Resources Department of the Italian New Energy and Environment Committee, said that solar thermal power plants have many advantages, and can achieve large-scale effects in the short to medium term, and the medium and high temperature heat produced by them can be used for pharmaceuticals, Food and textile industry production can also provide energy for biomass fuel production and hydrogen production by electrolysis of water.
