Italian Institutional court claims Apulia Regional Law n. 31/2008 — DIA Authorization of PV Projects up to 1MW declared as unconstitutional

Maybe it was the ease of developing renewable energy projects due to administrative and bureaucratic simplifications in Apulia under the provisions of Apulia Regional Law 31/2008 introduced by green energy friendly Nichi Vendola, president of Apulia region, that has been a big thorn in the sides of many other regions.
However on 29 December 2008, the Italian Government filed a lawsuit at the Constitutional Court for the declaration of unconstitutionality of Apulia Regional Law 31/2008. A first public hearing on this matter took place on 26 January 2010 and resulted now in a final verdict published on 31 March 2010. The  Constitutional Court specified the illegitimacy of two paragraphs of Art. 3 (Paragraphs §1 and §2) of Apulia Regional Law 31/2008, pursuant to which renewable energy plants with an output of up to 1MW could so far be authorised through a simplified “start-of works” declaration (DIA – Dichiarazione inizio attività).

Hence the court decision now implies with immediate effect, that ground-mounted PV projects above 20kW located in the Puglia region can no longer be authorized by a simple DIA procedure, but require an Autorizzazione Unica (AU – conferenza unificata), like originally foreseen in national decreto legislativo n. 387 (Attuazione della direttiva 2001/77/CE relativa alla promozione dell’energia elettrica prodotta da fonti energetiche rinnovabili nel mercato interno dell’elettricità) issued on 29 December 2003. More importantly on the other hand the court decision can not retroactively affect PV projects which had been fully permitted through the DIA procedure before the verdict. Already permitted projects should therefore remain valid and unaffected. Only in case these authorizations would be legally challenged within the legal period for objection, then the Constitutional Court’s decision could have sort of a retroactive effect.
In any case, Apulia government will now have to react properly and will have to introduce a new regional law in order to strike a fair balance between the interests of all parties involved. The legitimate reliance of the developer on the validity of the regional laws as they were in force during the authorisation process will have an important impact, as well as the investments already made in the project. However the current ruling only applies to the authorizations approved under the regional law n. 31/2008 and hence has no direct impact on the previous Regional Law n. 1/2008 whose article 27 already allowed for the authorization of 1MW PV projects by means of a simple DIA.

Americans invade Apulia

Texas-based JMJ Holdings is close to purchase the AS Bari football club from the Matarrese family. JMJ president and CEO Tim Barton has already signed an exclusive agreement to buy the team pending due diligence over the next 30 days.

The takeover of AS Bari marks only the beginning of JMJ's italian venture. Barton said he first heard the team was for sale when he was in southern Italy on a business trip to develop environmentally friendly energy investments a few months ago.

JMJ Holdings, founded in 1990 by CEO Tim Barton, is a real estate firm engaged in the acquisition, development, management and advisement of luxury real estate assets on a global basis. Since renewable energy offers high returns, like many other international real estate firms and investment funds, JMJ is on the search for green energy projects and investment opportunities.

Barton mainly focuses on photovoltaics in Apulia. He sees "photovoltaic installations on every rooftop in the city of Bari."

Conclusion: International financial crisis has not only slown down project developments in Italy but also brought harsh market conditions to solar industry. Thus we definitely need more courageous entrepreneurs like Barton, equipped with visions and the necessary capital.