ENGIE recently opened the first large-scale agricultural voltaic park built in Italy: it combines renewable energy production with local agricultural products. The energy is fed into the Italian national grid and is largely used to power Amazon’s operations in Italy. The structure was created today in Mazara del Vallo in the state of Trapani by ENGIE Italia CEO Monica Iacano and Amazon Europe European FMCG Category Director Giorgio Busnelli, Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy Security Vannia Gava. The agri-voltaic park, whose construction was announced in 2021, covers an area of 115 hectares. It was built in Sicily, in the province of Trapani, on an agricultural area between Marsala and Mazara del Vallo, and is the first of two renewable power plants the companies have announced. The second is located in Paternò in the province of Catania and will start producing energy by the end of the year. In total, the two facilities will have a generation capacity of 104 MW Peak* (83MW AC). According to ENGIE estimates, the two structures will contribute to the savings of more than 62,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. The Mazara del Vallo plant is an avant-garde example: besides being the first agricultural voltaic park built in Italy, it is the first to be designed on the basis of a Corporate PPA (Energy Purchase Agreement) contract model between two private companies. .
“Despite the context of the global crisis, we continued on our decarbonization path towards the energy transition. The Mazara del Vallo agrivoltaic plant for ENGIE is fully aligned with the development strategy in Italy and around the world,” said Monica Iacano, CEO of ENGIE Italia. “We currently rely on 500 MW of renewable installed power and our plan is to reach 2 GW between wind and photovoltaic plants by 2030. To achieve these goals, a stable and simplified legal and regulatory framework, which we hope will be defined soon, together with a continuous and continuous relationship with regions and central institutions is essential.” “For the opening of the first agro-voltaic park in Italy combining renewable energy production with the conservation of arable land I am pleased to be in Mazara del Vallo today. This project allows us to accelerate our path to net zero CO2 emissions by 2040, contribute to the country’s energy transition and make a positive impact in the communities in which we operate,” commented Giorgio Busnelli, Amazon in Europe for Largo Categories Consumption . Agri-voltaic parks increase land use efficiency by placing photovoltaic panels high above the ground to allow cultivation in the areas below. The Mazara del Vallo facility is equipped with the latest generation technology: bi-surface solar panels mounted on uniaxial trackers facilitate energy production by allowing both direct and reflected light to be captured from the surrounding terrain. The use of dual surface solar panels and tracking devices minimizes the space required for the photovoltaic system and maximizes the efficiency for the agricultural target. 150 people were employed to build the Mazara del Vallo factory.
In the Mazara del Vallo agricultural park, mainly fodder crops, as well as vine, lavender and aromatic and medicinal plants will be grown. In this way, it will be possible to ensure the conservation of the rural landscape and biodiversity and have a positive impact on the local agricultural realities involved in crop management. Among ENGIE’s main strategic challenges is the generation of energy from renewable sources. ENGIE’s 5 operational plants in Sicily (wind farms in Salemi/Trapani and Elimi, photovoltaic plants in Lambisi and Santa Chiara, and an agricultural voltaic plant in Mazara del Vallo) powered by renewable sources for approximately 174 MW of installed power ) and build new projects for 68 MW: 38 MW Peak agricultural voltage power plant (33 MW AC) and 30 MW Rampingallo wind farm in Paternò. There is a “Fast Reserve Unit” with a capacity of 12.5 MW in connection with the Trapani Salemi wind farm. It is a storage system created to support Terna in ensuring the stability of the electrical grid. ENGIE Group has 38 GW of installed green energy capacity worldwide and its target is to reach 80 GW by 2030. Amazon is today the world’s largest corporate buyer of renewable energy, thanks to a total of over 400 renewable energy projects in 22 countries. Including 128 solar and wind projects in Europe. In Italy, Amazon has announced 22 renewable energy projects, including 19 installations powered by rooftop photovoltaic systems, with a total capacity of more than 115 MW, enough to power more than 90,000 Italian homes. By the end of 2021, the company was able to provide 85% renewable energy sources in all of its operations and is close to its goal of powering all of its operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025.
Source: Today IT
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
