AgriVoltaic call for tenders: opening on 4 June 2024
Agrivoltaics: opening on 4 June 2024
AGRI-VOLTAIC INCENTIVE CARD
WHAT IS AGRIVOLTAGE
The MASE decree defines agri-voltaic system of an experimental nature (hereinafter also referred to as advanced agri-voltaic plant or agri-voltaic plant): an agri-voltaic plant that, in accordance with the provisions of the PNRR and the provisions of Article 65, paragraphs 1-quater and 1-quinquies, of Decree-Law of 24 January
2012, No. 1, converted with amendments by Law No. 27 of 24 March 2012, jointly adopt:
- innovative integrated solutions with elevated module mounting from the groundincluding by providing for the rotation of the modules themselves, in any case in such a way as not to jeopardise the continuity of farming and pastoral activities, also possibly allowing for the application of digital and precision farming tools;
- monitoring systemson the basis of guidelines adopted by the Council for Agricultural Research and Analysis of the Agricultural Economy-CREA in collaboration with the GSE (hereinafter: CREA-GSE Guidelines), allowing to verify the impact of the photovoltaic installation on crops, water saving, agricultural productivity for the different types of crops, continuity of the activities of the farms concerned. The indicators on soil fertility recovery, microclimate, resilience to climate change, are identified by the GSE, after consulting the CREA, within the application rules referred to in Article 12, paragraph 2;
The same decree then defines as agri-voltaic system (or advanced agri-voltaic system): a complex system composed of the works necessary to carry out agricultural activities in a given area and an advanced agri-voltaic plant installed on the latter that, through a spatial configuration and appropriate technological choices, integrates agricultural activity and electricity production, and that aims to enhance the productive potential of both subsystems, while guaranteeing the continuity of the area's own agricultural activities.
BENEFICIARIES
The beneficiaries of the measure governed by this decree are:
- a) agricultural entrepreneurs as defined by Article 2135 of the Civil Code, in individual or corporate form, including cooperatives, agricultural companies, as defined by Legislative Decree No 99 of 29 March 2004, as well as consortia formed between two or more agricultural entrepreneurs and/or agricultural entrepreneurs' companies, including the agricultural cooperatives performing activities referred to in Article 2135 of the Civil Code and cooperatives or consortia thereof referred to in Article 1(2) of Legislative Decree No. 228 of 18 May 2001, and temporary associations of agricultural enterprises;
- b) temporary associations of enterpriseswhich include at least one subject referred to in (a).
Access to the incentives set out in the decree is not allowed to plants that have started construction work before having submitted an application to participate in the procedures announced under this decree.
Interventions are deemed to have started when the first obligation rendering an investment irreversible is entered into, such as, for example, that relating to the ordering of equipment or the commencement of construction work.
The purchase of land and preparatory works such as obtaining permits and carrying out preliminary feasibility studies are not to be considered as starting work.
AGEVOLUTION
- non-repayable contribution of up to 40% of eligible costs
- incentive tariff on the share of electricity produced and fed into the grid.
AGEVOLUTION
Agro-voltaic plants with a capacity of up to 1 MW owned by the beneficiaries referred to in Article 4(1)(a) shall be eligible for the incentive mechanisms referred to in this Decree following their registration in special registers, within the limit of the quota of 300 MW.
Agrovoltaic plants of any power output owned by the entities referred to in Article 4(1)(a) and (b) shall be eligible for the incentive mechanisms set forth in this Decree following participation in competitive public procedures, within the limit of the 740 MW quota.
The facilities referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 that access the procedures launched under the decree guarantee compliance with the following requirements:
- (a) possession of a permit for the construction and operation of the plant;
- (b) possession of the definitively accepted grid connection quote;
- (c) comply with the requirements of Annex 2 (a);
- d) ensure the continuity of the agricultural and pastoral cultivation activity underlying the plant;
- (e) the installations are of new construction and made of new components;
- (f) comply with national and EU environmental protection standards, as well as with the 'do no significant harm' principle laid down in Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 as set out in the operating rules referred to in Article 12;
- (g) possession of a declaration by a banking institution attesting to the financial and economic capacity of the participant in relation to the scale of the intervention, taking into account the expected profitability of the intervention itself and the financial and economic capacity of the corporate group to which it belongs, or, alternatively, the commitment of the same institution to finance the intervention.
At the producer's request, in lieu of the documentation referred to in subsection 3(a), it is possible to access the procedures announced under this decree by submitting the favourable environmental impact assessment, where applicable.
ELIGIBLE COSTS
The following are eligible, up to the maximum investment cost identified in Annex 1
types of expenditure:
- a) construction of advanced agri-voltaic plants (photovoltaic modules, inverter structures for module assembly, electromechanical module orientation systems, electrical components);
- b) supply and installation of storage systems;
- (c) equipment for the monitoring system provided for in the CREA-GSE Guidelines, including the purchase or acquisition of information programmes functional to the management of the plant;
- (d) connection to the national electricity grid;
- e) building works strictly necessary for the implementation of the intervention;
- (f) purchase, transport and installation of machinery, plant and hardware and software equipment, including expenses for their installation and commissioning;
- (g) pre-feasibility studies and necessary expenses for preliminary activities;
- h) design, geological and geotechnical investigations, the burden of which is borne by the designer for the design definition of the work;
- (i) construction supervision, safety, day-to-day assistance and accounting;
- l) technical and/or technical-administrative testing, consultancy and/or technical-administrative support.
Expenditures under (g) to (l) are eligible for financing up to a maximum of 10% of the amount eligible for financing.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AGRI-VOLTAIC SYSTEM
- Minimum surface area for agricultural activity
The minimum area devoted to agricultural activity must be at least 70% of the
total surface area of the agri-voltaic system (Stot) - Innovative integrated construction solutions
The minimum height of the advanced agri-voltaic system modules above the ground must
allow the continuity of agricultural (or livestock) activities even underneath the photovoltaic modules and in any case respect the minimum values below:- 1.3 metres in the case of livestock activities (minimum height to allow for the continuous passage of livestock) and agri-voltaic systems involving the installation of modules in a fixed vertical position;
- 2.1 metres in the case of cultivation activities (minimum height to allow the use of cultivation machinery).
- Minimum electrical output
The specific electrical output of the advanced agri-voltaic plant (PVagri) is not less than
to 60 % of the electrical output of a reference photovoltaic system (PVstandard) - Continuity of agricultural and pastoral activity on the land in question
The continuity of agricultural activity must be guaranteed on the land in question, and
pastoral. Compliance with this condition is verified in the manner set out in the guidelines
CREA-GSE.
ACCESS PROCEDURE
Access to the incentives set out in the decree, for agri-voltaic plants, as referred to in Article 5, paragraphs 1 and 2, is through participation in public procedures, divided into registers and auctions, launched by the GSE during the two-year period 2023-2024in which power quotas are made available from time to time, possibly increased by resource quotas and quotas not allocated in previous procedures.
For the purpose of access to the procedures set forth in this Decree, the plants comply with the requirements set forth in Article 5, paragraphs 3 and 4, and the applicants must offer, in the application, a percentage reduction on the reference tariff of not less than 2%. This minimum bidding requirement does not apply to installations referred to in Article 5 para. 1 that enter via the register.
SELECTION CRITERIA AND ADMISSION TO THE INCENTIVE
Applications to participate in the procedures for access to the incentives shall be sent to the GSE exclusively through the website www.gse.it, according to the models defined in the operating rules referred to in Article 12, enclosing
(a) the offer to reduce the reference tariff;
(b) the documentation necessary to prove compliance with the requirements set out in Article 5(3) and (4);
(c) the documentation necessary to prove compliance with the priority criterion set out in the following
paragraph 5(a).
The GSE, within the limits of the available quotas, forms a ranking taking into account the percentage reduction offered with respect to the reference tariff.
Inclusion in the rankings constitutes a commitment to the Acknowledgement of the applicable tariff and capital contribution.
In the event that the applications for participation, taken as a whole, result in exceeding the quota made available for the individual procedure, the GSE shall apply the following further criteria in order of priority, the reduction offered being equal:
(a) higher percentage of self-consumed electricity to power the company's utilities
agricultural output compared to the plant's net output, defined on the basis of project data;
(b) earlier than the last date of completion of the application for participation in the procedure.
Installations ranked in the relevant lists shall start operation within 18 months from the date of notification of the outcome of the procedure, but not later than 30 June 2026.
MODALITIES FOR DISBURSEMENT OF THE INCENTIVE TARIFF
The GSE disburses the incentives from the date of commercial operation as follows:
- (a) for plants of a capacity not exceeding 200 kW, the GSE directly provides for the withdrawal and sale of the electricity, paying, on the net production fed into the grid, the tariff due in the form of all-inclusive tariff. Holders may alternatively apply for the application of the scheme under (b);
- b) for plants with a capacity of more than 200 kW, the electricity produced remains at the disposal of the producer, who independently provides for its valorisation on the market. The GSE calculates the difference between the due tariff and the market price of the reference electricity and:
- 1) Where this difference is positive, it grants the incentives by applying a premium tariff, equal to the aforementioned difference, on the net production fed into the grid;
- 2) in the event that this difference is negative, adjusts or requests the corresponding amounts from the holder.
| Power | Tariff €/MWh | Maximum cost €/kW |
| 1 < P ≤ 300 | 93 | 1.700 |
| P>300 | 85 | 1.500 |
| Geographical area | Correction factor |
| Central regions (Lazio, Marche, Tuscany, Umbria, Abruzzo) | 4 €/MWh |
| Northern regions (Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Liguria, Lombardy, Piedmont, Trentino-Alto Adige, Valle d'Aosta, Veneto) | 10 €/MWh |
The GSE provides incentives for a period of twenty yearscorresponding to the conventional useful life of the plants, considered net of any stoppages resulting from force majeure or from stoppages carried out for the purpose of modernisation and upgrading work that is not incentivised.
The disbursement of incentives is suspended during the hours when market prices are zero, or during the hours when prices are negative, where provided for in the Italian electricity market regulation.
CAPITAL GRANT DISBURSEMENT
The notice of entry into operation referred to in Article 9(1) shall be accompanied by the receipted certificates of expenditure incurred in connection with the implementation of the operation, as well as the detailed documentation identified by the operating rules referred to in Article 12.
Eligible items of expenditure are set out in Annex 3. The maximum investment cost of
reference for the grant is given in Annex 1.
The modalities for reporting eligible expenses as set out in Annex 3 and for disbursing the
capital contribution are defined by the operational rules set out in Article 12.
All eligible expenses must be substantiated by payments made by bank transfer
banking. Only expenses receipted by the date of entry into operation of the plant and in any case no later than 30 June 2026 are eligible.
DEADLINE
Desk opening: 12 noon on 4 June 20204
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