Italy Wants EU to Let Farmers Become Energy Exporters
- Country plans to allot 1.5 billion euros to agrisolar projects
- Agriculture Minister Patuanelli to meet EU’s Gentiloni Tuesday
Photographer: Giulio Andreini/Education Images/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
This article is for subscribers only.
Italy wants the European Union to allow farmers to sell surplus electricity they generate on their land, a measure that could help soften a bloc-wide energy crunch.
“Italian agricultural companies have huge surfaces available that should be filled with solar panels,” Agriculture Minister Stefano Patuanelli said in an interview Monday, referring to the roofs of stables, granaries and sheds. “It is unbelievable that selling what they produce and do not need is not allowed.”