Recently, the 10th Forum of Italia Solare was held in Rome. The industry event, chaired by the association’s president Paolo Rocco Viscontini, sent a clear message: Faced with dual pressures of regulatory adjustments and reduced funding, deepening cooperation with China’s photovoltaic industry has become a key pathway for Italy to align with the EU’s Net-Zero Industry Act and achieve its decarbonization goals.
Following the recent introduction of government decrees related to agrivoltaics and project approvals, developers generally report that only agrivoltaic projects are currently viable, but the approval process remains complex. Andrea Brumgnach, Vice President of Italia Solare, stated candidly that while the industry has successful cases, it lacks scalable mechanisms. The current average project size is only 94 kWp, with 84% connected to low-voltage grids, forming a stark contrast with China’s gigawatt-level development capabilities. China’s mature experience in agrivoltaics, such as the large-scale “electricity generation above, medicinal herb cultivation below” model in Jishui, Jiangxi, has become a key focus for the Italian side.
Italy has reduced its renewable energy certificate support funding from €2.2 billion to €795.5 million. Andrea Brumgnach revealed that the related investment demand is as high as €3.64 trillion, with over 58,000 applications awaiting implementation. This supply-demand imbalance makes the full-industry-chain advantages of China’s photovoltaic sector even more attractive. The forum reached a consensus that “cooperation with China is an inevitable choice.”
Italian industry associations explicitly stated the need to leverage China’s complete production capacity accumulation—from cells to energy storage batteries—to strengthen local manufacturing. 3SUN CEO Stefano Lorenzi remarked that Chinese partners can quickly address supply chain gaps. The company’s gigafactory has already been developed with the participation of Chinese enterprises. Italian associations further called on the government to provide operational support for local factories collaborating with Chinese companies.
The recently announced results of the first FER X auction confirm market potential: 474 photovoltaic projects were awarded a total of 7.69 GW, with an average electricity price of €0.05682/kWh, 37.34% below the cap. Sicily alone accounted for 3.38 GW of awarded capacity. Tommaso Barbetti, a partner at energy consulting firm Elemens, pointed out that Italy’s photovoltaic targets may be revised upward. Chinese enterprises like Longi have already transitioned from module supply to integrated solar-plus-storage solutions, and recently signed contracts to supply high-efficiency BC modules to local companies.
Analysis suggests that despite new EU regulations imposing restrictions on module origins, Chinese enterprises retain significant technological and cost advantages. Large-scale projects in key regions like Sicily are becoming testing grounds for the “Italian market demand + Chinese industrial advantage” synergy, indicating that Sino-Italian photovoltaic cooperation may soon enter a phase of substantive implementation.
