Italy’s FiT cuts will be less than expected

Reuters has reported that the Italian government plans to reduce the cuts it previously announced to solar incentives, according to the latest draft of a decree obtained on February 22.

The decree states that for large solar plants of over 1MW, the proposed tariff as of January 1, 2011, is €0.313/kWh compared with the €0.298 /kWh in the previous version. The €0.313/kWh tariff is expected to decline to €0.2642/kWh at the end of 2011. The tariffs will then fall by 6% a year in 2012 and 2013.

The current support scheme is set to expire in 2010 when the capacity covered by the incentives reaches a 1,200MW cap.

The government has postponed unveiling its new incentive plan, which will reduce tariffs to reflect falls in PV module prices. The new plan is expected to be fully released on the 25th at a unified conference of state and regions, which should approve the plan before it goes for signing by economic development and environments ministers. This should outline more concrete details.

Investors and solar energy market operators have said delays in unveiling the new plan prevents them from drafting their own strategies and could slow down investment flows.