22nd April 2010 – Chamber of Deputies approves use of “Notice of Commencement” for renewable energy source plants up to 1 MW

22nd April 2010 – An amendment to the European Union Act 2009 was approved yesterday in the Chamber, providing for “inclusion in the DIA (Dichiarazione di inizio attività – Notice of Commencement) regime” of renewable energy source plants “for the generation of electrical energy, where generation capacity does not exceed 1 electrical MW as per Article 2, Letter e) of Legislative Decree 29 December 2003 no. 387, and which are fuelled by energy sources as per letter a)”.

The amendment to Article 17 (Paragraph 1, Letter c) in relation to national compliance with European energy standards, focuses on “the clarification and regulation of a sector lacking in general guide lines in relation to authorisation procedures for the installation of renewable energy source plants”, explained Aldo Di Biagio, Deputy of the PDL (Popolo della libertà), first signatory party to the amendment. This situation was said to have “created regulatory inconsistencies in the enactment of regional energy law”, thereby forcing the “Constitutional Court to declare unconstitutional, law 31 of the Apulia Region”.

This ruling, continued Di Biagio, “has caused various problems for those who decided to invest in the energy sector, for local municipality energy policy, and the entire energy policy of the country. The promotion and use of renewable sources as per European forecasts,” concluded the parliamentarian, “is necessary for the country’s growth, and it is therefore in our interest to facilitate the use and exploitation of such natural resources”.

The measure, which supports an “intention to fulfill those obligations deriving from Italy’s membership to the European Union”, under the European Union Act 2009, will now return to the Senate for examination.

(source Zeroemission.tv)