Reuters: Regulatory News: UPDATE 1-Italy set to cut solar incentives - sources

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UPDATE 1-Italy set to cut solar incentives - sources Mar 28th 2012, 12:18 Wed Mar 28, 2012 8:18am EDT * New solar power support scheme to be approved April - sources * Feed-in tariffs to be halved by decree - sources * Italy is world's No. 2 solar market By Stephen Jewkes and Svetlana Kovalyova MILAN, March 28 (Reuters) - Italy will cut incentives for solar power generation this year as part of a new support scheme due to be approved in April as the government moves to lighten power bills for consumers, two sources close to the matter said on Wednesday. "Expectations are for the approval of the new scheme around mid-April," one of the sources said. Italy's industry and environment ministers are set to approve a new decree on incentives for photovoltaic (PV) generation - which turns sunlight into power - "within a few days or a couple of weeks," the second source said. The decree, which would replace the present scheme, aims to cut incentives for large-scale PV installations which generate power beyond self-consumption needs while supporting small and large plants which generate power to satisfy the needs of power producers, the second source said. The government cut production incentives for solar power last May to help consumers who support the scheme through power bills. The incentive scheme introduced last year covered until the end of 2016. According to an industry source who had viewed a draft of the decree, feed-in tariffs, a widely used form of incentive for the sector, will be halved as of July 1, even for small-size installations. Incentive spending would be capped at 100 million euros ($133 million) every six months, while a registry for all installations with capacity above 3 kilowatts will become necessary, the source said. Italy's solar market, the world's second-biggest after Germany's, has boomed since 2007 when the government boosted production subsidies. With 9,000 MW of new installed capacity in 2011, Italy was the fastest-growing solar market in the world last year, despite the incentive cut. Talk of a change in the support scheme has left the solar industry in disarray, Italian operators said. Banks are suspending financing of solar power projects while clients are scrapping orders, Italian PV association GIFI said. Italy's solar market incentives have attracted the world's major PV module makers such as Chinese group Suntech Power Holdings, Trina Solar, Yilgli Green Energy Holding and U.S. firms First Solar and SunPower Corp. Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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