On Tuesday 17 December, the European Commission gave the green light to a €9.7 billion Italian State aid programme to support the production of renewable energy. Italy wants to subsidise the construction of new offshore wind, photovoltaic, hydropower and sewage gas plants. Together, the future facilities should add up to 17.65 GW of renewable energy capacity.
The budget of €9.7 billion indicated for the scheme is based on market price estimates. Actual net support may be considerably lower if market prices are higher than expected.
The Commission considered that the Italian programme fell within the State aid Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (TCTF) and that it was necessary and appropriate in the light of Europe’s ambitions for the Green Deal Industrial Plan.
Danish aid. On the same day, the Commission also approved a Danish State aid programme worth €1.7 billion (DKK 13 billion) to support the production of renewable gas for injection into the grid. More specifically, these are new facilities or extensions to existing facilities for refined biogas and synthetic methane. The programme should enable the production of 7.9 petajoules of renewable gas per year.
As with the Italian programme, the aid will be granted through a competitive bidding process. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)