Italy Removes Solar Power Incentive Cap

Solar power 8,000 MW incentive cap removed – source

* New rules to be introduced in June on sector

* Solar operators had been unhappy about cap

(Adds detail, background)

ROME, March 3 (Reuters) – Italy’s government has removed a cap on incentives for solar power production, a ministerial source said on Thursday, following growing dissatisfaction from operators in the sector.

The source said the final version of the government decree on renewable energy approved on Thursday no longer included the suspension of incentives after 8,000 megawatts of solar capacity had been installed.

Investors and industry players had feared such a cap could have slowed down the growth of Italy’s photovoltaic sector.

But the source said there will be new legislation in June to review the rules governing the sector.

On Wednesday, Industry Minister Paolo Romani said solar power production incentives would cost Italians 35 billion euros ($49 billion) over 10 years.

Italy’s solar market has boomed since 2007 when production incentives, among the most generous in Europe, were launched.

http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE72210520110303

Notablecalls: The removal of the 8GW cap in Italy will be considered as a major surprise for the Solar space. Italy is among the largest markets and people were expecting some pretty harsh austerity measures there.

Many of the Chinese Solar players like JinkoSolar Holding (JKS) (most exposure to Italy), LDK Sola (LDK), Yingli Green Energy (YGE), JA Solar (JASO) etc will be up 5-7% today. Let’s not forget First Solar (FSLR) here as well.

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