After successful installation of a 220 kW PV system, the Vatican is planning to install a 100 MW solar power system on Vatican Radio’s grounds.

That’s the estimated total power for the Vatican’s second solar power installation. This new system would easily dwarf the first system, a 220 kW unit on the Pope’s Audience Hall.

 

Mauro Villarini confirmed news agency Bloomberg’s report that the Vatican was planning a system of this size at Vatican Radio’s headquarters just north of Rome. If the project proceeds, that would result in an impressive 125 kW of installed power per capita for the Vatican City State’s approximate 800 official inhabitants, or sampietrini, as the local residents of Rome call them.

 

Mauro Villarini is responsible for renewable energy projects at the Vatican. Together with the Vatican’s director of technical services, Pier Carlo Cuscianna, Villarini contributed a great deal to the construction of the first papal PV system, which was funded by donations from German companies SolarWorld AG, SMA Solar Technology AG and others. For the new system, SolarWorld is again advising the Vatican’s engineers and Frank Asbeck told Bloomberg confidently that his company would receive the contract to build the system – even if it came to a public tender. The Vatican City State isn’t obligated to hold Europe-wide public tenders. Sure, the state issues its own euro coins, but it isn’t a member of the European Union.

 

The same holds true for the grounds of Vatican Radio in Santa Maria di Galeria: the Vatican purchased the 400 hectare area in the 1950s. Since then, the area is considered exterritorial – as part of a special agreement with Italy. Like an embassy, Italian and European jurisdiction do not apply. This state of affairs is the result of the Lateran Treaty, a bilateral contract between Italy and the Vatican signed in 1929. To exemplify this complex situation, take the several-decade-long dispute between Vatican Radio and several citizens’ action groups, which are concerned about the radiation levels produced by the radio transmitters in Santa Maria di Galeria. A large part of this dispute is about whether the Italian jurisdiction is the appropriate entity.

 

Although the new solar system is only in the planning stage, one thing is clear: like the first PV project in Vatican City, the 100 MW system will enjoy the benefit of feed-in tariffs provided by Italy’s Conto Energia. That was confirmed when PHOTON International inquired at the press office of Italy’s Electricity Service Agency (GSE), which is responsible for feed-in remuneration. In the case of the first system inside the Vatican – which is legally located outside Italy – GSE has made an exception, which will soon take effect. The grounds of Vatican Radio, on the other hand, are still Italian property, despite it being exterritorial.

 

The Vatican isn’t revealing any additional details about the project. Bloomberg reported a system covering as much as 300 hectares, with an investment cost of €500 million ($663.9 million), while Asbeck was quoted estimating costs at €350 to €400 million ($464.7 million to $531.1 million), if the Vatican exclusively chooses SolarWorld modules.

 

But it’s still not clear which technology the Vatican intends to use. Currently, the word is, the Vatican is conducting a feasibility study. The final system won’t necessarily be a PV power plant – it’s possible it could be a solar thermal power plant instead. Another question is whether the Vatican – as reported by Bloomberg – will wait to build the system until 2014. Italy’s current Conto Energia, which regulates feed-in and remuneration, is valid until 2010, and is subject to a 2-percent annual decrease.

 

Today, 1 kWh from a 100 MW PV system, which could deliver around 127 GWh of solar electricity annually, would receive a tariff of 35.28 euro cents (46.8¢). That amounts to an annual feed-in remuneration total of €44.8 million ($59.5 million), which Italian citizens would pay to the Vatican via their electricity bills. Over a period of 20 years, the Vatican would receive €896 million ($1.2 billion) in feed-in remuneration.

 

And that comes in addition to the money the Vatican’s broadcaster would save by using solar electricity the system produces, as well as income from sales of excess solar electricity. Whether the Vatican pays a surcharge on its electricity bill for the support of renewable energy remains a state secret, as do other regulations related to electricity delivery in Italy. Since neither the Vatican nor its media mouthpiece – The Voice of the Pope and the Church in Dialogue with the World – are subject to Italian taxes, they don’t have to worry about deductions, which sometimes make life difficult for system operators in Southern Europe. For example, the Italian tax authorities are trying to levy a communal real-estate tax on the area covered by a PV system. Thus, from many perspectives, the project is certainly a blessed one.

PHOTON International | Stefano Eleuteri 2009