Over the past few days, the Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security approved a decree to apply for grants for advanced agri-voltaic plants and to obtain an incentivized tariff for selling the energy back to the network.
Applications from individual farms may not exceed 1 megawatt capacity. To request grants for larger wattages and extensions, it will be necessary to assemble ATIs (Temporary Associations of Enterprises) between several farms or with other entrepreneurs.
Vertical and double-sided panels
A prerequisite to access the grant is to present plant solutions that ensure the connection between energy production and continuity of agricultural cultivation, thus able to monitor microclimate, water saving, soil fertility recovery, resilience to climate change and agricultural productivity for different types of crops. The decree indicates that innovative solutions, mainly with a vertical structure and with innovative and highly efficient solar modules, are to be particularly supported.
The Apulian company Oliva Service has selected advanced agri-voltaic systems that enable the cultivation of many types of vegetable and fruit plants, thanks to its innovative semi-transparent laminated glass solar panels, which can protect plants from bad weather (such as hail, wind, heavy rain and scorching sun) while also allowing natural light to penetrate inside.
"Our agri-voltaic solutions," says Angelo Amato, the company's administrator, "also fully meet the high priority demands of state funding. Bank agreements are underway to be able to finance the remaining 60 percent of the cost of the agri-voltaic system, with forms of operating leases and dedicated financing without requiring guarantees or mortgages."
The package offered by Oliva Service is a turnkey and includes design, static study of the plant, transportation and installation of the plant, as well as the application for connection to the GSE power network, including environmental and architectural impact assessments. "We are striving to enable farms to be able to benefit from the financing that will come from the development of renewable energy communities for which the Italian government has provided an equal 40 percent non-refundable subsidy and incentives for the sale of energy of up to €0.16 per kw/h for the construction of renewable power plants of up to 1 Mwp," says the manager Amato.
"This means being able to feed the energy needs of about 300 households per hectare of our agri-voltaic plants and allowing the farm to have an energy income of about 200,000 euros per hectare."
In order to enable farms to also be able to set up plants of more than 1 Mwp and benefit from this European aid for energy communities, a temporary business association specializing in the development of energy communities powered by energy produced by farms is being formed, which may include many communities of citizens and consumers. All interested farms will be able to join this association.
"Farms producing energy for agricultural energy communities will also be able to supply their agricultural products, grown under our Oliva Service branded agri-voltaic facilities, directly to members, citizens and non-farm businesses, who join our energy community. This is an ideal combination of energy and agricultural income, which will enable young agricultural entrepreneurs to participate in this new phase of the energy and agricultural transition, which is more profitable and undoubtedly more challenging than in the past," concluded Amato.
In addition, Oliva Service provides all the innovative equipment that allows farms to be able to process and package their vegetables for the fourth range industry and for the production of fruit juices, dried fruits, natural cosmetic products and seed oils. Click here for the machinery.
Click here to browse Oliva Service's agri-vegetable catalog.
For more information:
Angelo Amato
Oliva Service
Via Perugia, 7 - 73100 Lecce
+39 0832/391652
+39 348/7849932
olivaservice@alice.it
www.olivaservice.it