CDP finances wind and agrivoltaic plants of over 140 MW
A one third reduction in greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere, 30% renewables and 43% energy efficiency. These are the ambitious targets set for Italy by the 2030 Energy and Climate Plan: the tool to guide our country's energy and environmental policy towards decarbonisation.
ENGIE, a leader in low-carbon energy and services, has launched a project aimed at contributing to these targets and secured a €105 million loan from Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, together with Bnp Paribas and Société Générale, to build a wind farm and two agrivoltaic plants in Sicily. Eighty per cent of the energy produced will be used for the distribution centres of a major company through a long-term agreement, and the remaining 20 per cent for the energy needs of around 20,000 households.
The initiative is based on an innovative technology that is not yet widely used across Italy: agrivoltaics, which allows for the coexistence of energy production and agriculture. The solar panels, immersed among almond trees, olive trees, aromatic, medicinal and fodder crops, will be equipped with systems that also exploit light reflected from the ground, in addition to direct light, making them 20 per cent more efficient than traditional photovoltaics.
With a total production of over 140 MW, the plants - located in Marsala, Mazara del Vallo and Paternò - will avoid the emission of almost 140 thousand tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere, equivalent to planting more than 7.5 million trees.
This transaction is a further step towards the country's sustainable energy transition, contributing to the achievement of the targets set at European level to combat climate change and to implement the UN's 2030 Agenda.