Agrivoltaics in Italy

16.09.2021

Towards the international agriculture show. Online event, Thursday, 16th September (at 5:15 pm)

With Fieragricola Verona, a trip into the world of agrivoltaics. A webinar on the advantages and opportunities of the new frontier and renewable energies

Verona, 14th September 2021. With 1.1 billion euros set aside from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) to develop renewable energy production through agrivoltaic systems, a new chapter in multi-functional agriculture able to combine environmental sustainability, energy production and ecological transition, has begun.
Fieragricola, the international agricultural technologies show, scheduled to take place at Veronafiere from 26th to 29th January 2022, spotlights the opportunities of uniting photovoltaics and agriculture with a webinar to be transmitted on Thursday 16th September (at 5.15 pm) entitled «Agrivoltaics in Italy: what it is and the opportunities for the farming sector.»
Moderated by Leonardo Berlen, director of QualEnergia.it, speakers will include Michela Demofonti, coordinator of the Italia Solare Agri-photovoltaico Work Group; Alessandra Scognamiglio from the Photovoltaic and Smart Devices Division of the Renewable Energy Technologies Department and coordinator of the Sustainable Agrivoltaic task force; Giovanni Simoni, founder of Kenergia spa.
The event aims to provide an introduction to the agivoltaic (or agri-photovoltaic) sector, explain the environmental and economic sustainability of the initiatives, and illustrate the regulations, operability, advantages, critical points and practical cases of an agrivoltaic system that would make a concrete contribution to agricultural enterprises.
«Agri-photovoltaics offer the country a great opportunity for combining decarbonisation needs with the preservation or restoration of agricultural and pastoral activities,» says Michela Demofonti, coordinator of the Italia Solare Agri-Photovoltaic Work Group. «In order to develop agri-photovoltaics, public interest and acceptance is essential, as is defining a clear regulatory framework. In this sense, steps forward have been taken with the NRRP and the Simplification Decree, but it is necessary to continue towards concrete actions to simplify authorisation procedures and strengthen mechanisms to facilitate project bankability.»
After in-depth analysis of the Common Agricultural Policy 2021-2027 reform, on which agreement has been reached at European level and which will come into force on 1st January 2023, Fieragricola Verona continues with events dedicated to agricultural companies and professional operators and, with the webinar on Thursday 16th September, focuses on another challenge for the primary sector, called upon to respond to the major changes underway, from the need for greater food production and increased yields to reducing emissions and environmental impact and including production cost containment and solutions for combating ongoing climate change.
Renewable agricultural energies represent a winning strategy for improving farm performance by promoting circular economy solutions that can reduce atmospheric pollutant emissions as well as the use of fossil fuels, while ensuring improved competitiveness.
"An agrivoltaic system is not a photovoltaic system installed on agricultural land», Giovanni Simoni, CEO of the Kenergia Group, points out. «It is an integrated and innovative project designed, built and managed through an equal agreement between a farming company and an electricity provider. It is a project of co-responsibility from which the production and profitability of agriculture and the production of renewable energy within the framework of the NIECP (National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan) must benefit».
«The challenge», says Alessandra Scognamiglio from the Photovoltaic and Smart Devices Division of the Renewable Energy Technologies Department and coordinator of the Sustainable AgriVoltaic Task Force, «is to turn a technical issue into a complex cultural issue, with a trans-disciplinary approach supported by the results of research into the best crop and photovoltaic system combinations».
Click on the following link to subscribe: https://www.fieragricola.it/it/l-agrovoltaico-in-italiacos-e-equali-opportunita-offre-al-settore-agricolo