The European Commission has approved a $38.5 billion Italian aid scheme to increase the electricity production from renewable sources by 4,590 watts. The scheme aligns with the objectives of the European Green Deal and will run until December 21, 2028. The approval of the Italian scheme was passed on 4 June, 2024. 

The approval of the scheme may present opportunities for private credit and equity firms and asset managers to invest in companies involved in renewable energy technologies, grid infrastructure improvements and energy storage solutions that may be beneficiaries of this scheme. 

Let’s explore this Italian renewable energy aid scheme in detail. 

What is the Italian renewable energy state aid scheme? 

The Italian renewable energy state aid scheme is a set of guidelines that will facilitate the establishment of new plants powered by cutting-edge technology, such as floating or fixed offshore wind power, geothermal energy, thermodynamic solar, tidal, wave, floating solar and other marine energy sources. It is anticipated that the plants will increase the capacity of the Italian electrical system by 4590 MW of renewable electricity. 

The time it takes for successful plants to start up varies from 31 to 60 months, depending on the technology.

EU assessment for Italian state aid scheme

• The scheme allows the development of economic activity, that is the production of renewable electricity from innovative technologies as well as biogas and biomass. 
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  It supports the EU’s strategic objectives, particularly the REPowerEU Plan and the European Green Deal. 
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  The measures promote sustainability and are necessary for Italy to meet the European and national climate targets and are limited to be proportionate to the minimum necessary to trigger investments. 
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  The scheme aims to bring about positive effects that will outweigh any potential distortion of trade and competition in the EU. 
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  The aid is designed to incentivize investments in renewable power plants that would not be carried out to the same extent without the public support. 
  
  

Next Steps? 

The aid will be in the form of two contracts for difference for each KWH of electricity produced and will be paid for the duration that is equal to the life of the plants. 

The scheme is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2028.

While you’re here…

Public investments like this can present new deal flow opportunities for impact investors and lenders in private markets, as companies involved in renewable energy projects supply chain may seek additional capital to take advantage of new international cooperation. 

However, identifying opportunities before their competitors is a major data challenge for private credit and equity firms. This is an area where Auquan can help. 

Auquan uses advanced AI to generate material insights on any entity worldwide — public or private — and fine-tuned for your individual investment and lending workflows. 

Let’s explore how Auquan can help you and your team eliminate tedious and time-consuming manual data work and focus more on what you do best: making strategic decisions ahead of the market.