How is Italy Investing in Energy Innovations?

The Italian Energy Ministry has approved a EUR 502 million investment programme aiming to support research and development for innovative energy technologies. How will this help to speed up the country’s energy transition?

Disbursed over the 2024-2026 period, the funding will be available to technologies at the pre-commercial level, according to a decree signed by the Energy Ministry.

The largest portion of the investment, totaling EUR 182 million, will be for renewable energy production and projects aiming to enhance the safety and resiliency of the power grid with technologies such as energy storage.

A further EUR 118 million will be focused directly on the production of green hydrogen. While EUR 135 million will be allocated to study the construction of modular nuclear reactors.

Projects that involve the use of critical raw materials, advanced materials, electrolysers, and biofuels will receive EUR 36 million, while initiatives aiming to improve collaboration in the energy sector will share EUR 11 million.

This follows this summer which saw the Italian Government propose a revision of the national energy and climate plan, which calls for lifting the share of renewables in gross final electricity consumption to 65 per cent by 2030 from the current 55 per cent objective.