By entering the Italian market, the UKA Group aims to continue its international growth. Currently, there are already three photovoltaic projects in development amounting to 120 MWp in southern Italy under the management of Álvaro Sierra Torrón, Managing Director of the new UKA Italia Srl and UKA-Iberia S.L.U. One of the projects has been submitted to Sole Authorization approval last year and the others will follow in the upcoming months. The group, which develops wind and solar parks, had recently added UKA Polska Sp. z o.o. to its list of international subsidiaries and also has staff in the USA, Chile and Spain.
Ambitious National Targets for Renewable Energies
Italy has developed a strong future market in renewable energies due to its work on reaching both national and European climate targets and a corresponding increase in alternative energy projects. Data from Italian electricity transmission operator Terna show that in 2022, renewable energy in Italy covered 31 percent of electricity demand. "The national energy strategy has set a target to provide 55 percent of all electricity demand from renewable energy by 2030. Furthermore, Italy is aiming to increase its photovoltaic capacity from 25 GWp to 52 GWp. We want to play an active role in this," Sierra Torrón explains. To achieve the national energy and climate strategy targets by 2030, the government is offering additional support mechanisms to promote the expansion of renewable energies.
According to Terna, 0.5 GW of new wind turbines were commissioned in Italy in 2022, thus increasing the overall amount of wind energy to almost 12 GW. For ground-mounted solar farms (>1 MWp), Terna reports 0.6 GWp of new installations from the same year, bringing the total volume to 5.4 GWp in this sector.