The key to this year-the Energy Transition Expo, the second largest solar trade fair in Europe, emphasized the rapid growth of the Italian PV market and the growing international reach.
Policy updates
On the first day of the event, PV -Magazine Reporters Lara Morandotti and Massimiliano Tripodo interviewed the Italian Minister of Energy Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, who revealed important details about the new provisions for renewable energy sources under the “Fer X” decision and the Macse auction mechanism for large -scale batteries.
Fratin said that the FER X -Framework will contain at least two auctions of renewable energy sources, whereby the first set takes place within a few months. Officials at the fair also confirmed that the Macse auction will be held on 30 September.
Most Chinese and international manufacturers of inverters, modules and trackers, including non-Tier-1 companies and many newcomers, attended the event. This broader participation shows that the event goes beyond its national focus and acquiring international relevance.
“I think this event is now becoming a sort of second intersolar, that gives us the chance to present our products for a global customer base,” said a spokesperson for one PV manufacturer.
Storage role
The most important difference with previous editions is the strong presence of storage players and manufacturers, powered by rapid market growth in Italy, mainly because of the capacity market and the long-awaited Macse auction. In a session organized by the Italian industrial association Anie Federazione and moderated by PV -MagazineFrancesco del Pizzo, Director of Network Development and Shipping Director at Grid operator Terna, said that he expected that the Macse auction will be “extremely”, with the prices probably fall at least 20% of the ceiling.
Del Pizzo called the storage market ‘surprising’ and noted that it reacted ‘above the best expectations’, which in the past two years has risen almost no demand for 250 GW requests. He said that Terna has signed connecting contracts for 2 GW of fully authorized factories and 13 GW of projects in advanced phases of authorization, validated with technical connection work.
Regarding the first Macse auction, Del Pizzo said that although the ministry has set an objective of 10 GWH, about 9 GWH is eligible for the first round of the 13.5 GWH that was authorized from 28 February. He said that the offer is “particularly mature” and emphasized the accelerating pace of the permit process. “It will be a particularly competitive auction,” he said, adding that prices could fall more than 20%.
Del Pizzo said that he expects a price distribution in the Macse auction that will not be completely uniform, with a downward trend driven by ordinary competitive dynamics and especially by a considerable compression in capital costs. “With equal capital returns, the resulting price is considerably lower,” he said. Asked if foreign financiers could stay on the sidelines, Del Pizzo said, “I don’t think it will be.”
About future stimulation mechanisms and long -term instruments, Del Pizzo said that the capacity market, as currently defined, will complete its role in 2028. He said that a final auction will follow the first Macse round, taking into account the auction results and the contribution of Macse, after which Italy will assess whether Italy will assess whether Italy will assess whether a new capacity mechanism will be used or will revise the existing.
“At the moment we believe that there is a need for a general holistic vision and that the capacity market requires reflection now that we have other long -term instruments,” he said.
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