Italy expects to double its installed photovoltaic (PV) solar capacity to 900 megawatts (MW) in 2009, the country’s GSE agency annouced today, according to a Reuters report.
In 2008, solar developers installed 338 MW of photovoltaic capacity in the country–roughly equivalent to installation capacity in the U.S., but less than what was installed in Germany and Spain.
The Italian government approved new incentive levels for solar that went into effect in mid-2007. According to GSE figures, those incentives have led to 34,000 new PV project with a combined capacity of 435 MW.
"If the requests for incentives (which follow the installation of modules) continued at the current pace, the number of installations operating in Italy could exceed 70,000 by the end of 2009 with a total capacity of 900 MW," GSE said.
According to Reuters, the Italian PV industry group GIFI gave a more conservative estimate of 600-650 MW by the end of 2009.
The country’s total installed PV capacity was 440 MW at the end of 2008, according to GSE figures.
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