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The measures suggested by the Ministry, by way of a unilateral variation of contracts between the state and businesses, would be a further unjustifiable reduction in profitability for photovoltaic systems.
This measure would produce many disastrous results such as:
- the Government will ruin its image and credibility undermining the principles of a constitutional state;
- the Government will undergo a major setback in the repositioning of Italy in the European Union which on several occasions has expressed the need to avoid such measures;
- investors, who have signed definite contracts with Italian State company (GSE), could freeze all development projects in Italy and boycott the infrastructure plan;
- the credit system will suffer and slow the country's economic recovery;
- the vast majority of photovoltaic companies will fail, with serious impact on employment and the banking system;
- the State will lose significant tax revenue for a value of over € 600 million.
"Just the Government suggesting this measure - says Agostino Re Rebaudengo, president of assoRinnovabili - is causing strong shockwaves in the credit system that has actually frozen new funding, crippling the industry with substantial effects on employment for approximately 100,000 workers in the photovoltaic sector but also for the state coffers, which could forgo tax revenue of more than € 600 million. For the country itself, the huge negative impact would frustrate the desired marginal benefits for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)."
"Moreover - continued Re Rebaudengo - the Government's aim to reduce electricity bills has already been achieved thanks to renewable energy sources, which in the last year and a half have reduced the price of electricity wholesale from 70 to 45 €/MWh for a total saving of between 7 and 8 billion euros. If SMEs and the general public have not yet received these benefits it certainly isn’t the renewable energy sector’s fault. It must also be remembered that the PV industry has already been affected negatively by these retroactive regulatory interventions which will amount to an impact of more than 1 billion euros per year."
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"The renewable energy sector represents the present and the future - concludes Agostino Re Rebaudengo – through its ability to produce benefits for the economic system, the strategic objective of preserving the country’s energy independence and for the urgent preservation of the environment. Government says it is in favor of a green economy, but when it comes to the crunch it is proving highly inconsistent. I hope that before the next European elections we will be given clear and long-lasting view."
With a view to constructive and responsible dialogue between assoRinnovabili and the Ministry a debate is in place to analyze different alternatives that would allow the government to pursue the shared goal of further reducing the final cost of electricity for SMEs without crippling the industry.
