Italy has awarded more than 1.1 GW of capacity to 88 projects in its first auction exclusively for solar installations built without Chinese-manufactured equipment, setting an average price of €66/MWh.
This procurement exercise represents Italy’s first solar auction implementing the resilience criteria stipulated by the EU Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA). For PV projects larger than 1 MW, the Italian government prohibited the use of solar modules, cells, and inverters from China.
- According to data from GSE, the tariff is 17% higher than the average price achieved in a previous renewable energy auction earlier in 2025, which had no restrictions on equipment origin.
- Only two plants exceed 100 MW of nominal capacity. The largest project is a 180 MW plant proposed by Alta Capital 3, to be built in the municipality of Butera, Sicily. The second-largest project is a 108 MW plant developed by Solaer Clean Energy Italy, a subsidiary of the Spanish company Zelestra.
The announcement follows the GSE awards of 7.7 GW of solar and approximately 950 MW of wind projects in early December 2025. Under the auction framework, developers are required to bring plants online within 36 months.