The Italian Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (MASE) has extended the project construction period for the 1.5GW project selected in the country's first utility-scale agricultural photovoltaic tender.

Previously, several developers reported that they were unable to complete the construction before the government's initially set deadline of June 30, 2025.

The new deadline is June 30, 2026. Grid connection must be completed within 18 months after the completion of construction.

The new regulations were outlined in the decree issued on June 25th, and these regulations also apply to the projects submitted before the decree came into effect.

After reviewing a total of 643 bids of 1.7 gigawatts, the Italian Energy agency GSE awarded 1.5 gigawatts of capacity in this tender.

The selected projects include the 270-megawatt project of EuropeanEnergy, the 62-megawatt Repower array project located in Sicily, and the 73-megawatt Next Energy Capital project located in Campania. Other major selected projects include Solarig (122 megawatts), Photosol (55 megawatts), and DCH Di Carlo Holding (over 140 megawatts), second only to European Energy companies.

Most projects are submitted by agricultural companies. As the bidding did not reach the maximum quota, all eligible projects were awarded. The discount range of the maximum limit price varies from 9.18% to 53%, and larger-scale projects benefit from economies of scale.

For projects with a capacity of less than 300 kilowatts, the maximum price is set at 0.093 euros per kilowatt-hour. For larger-scale projects, the maximum price is set at 0.085 euros per kilowatt-hour.

Most of the projects are located in southern Italy, while some others are in Lazio and Emilia-Romagna in the central and northern regions.