Italy’s Minister for the Environment and Energy Security (MASE in italian), Gilberto Pichetto, has signed the new Energy Release 2.0 decree, following approval from the European Commission. This updated measure strengthens a strategic mechanism aimed at accelerating the development of renewable energy in Italy while enhancing the competitiveness of energy-intensive industries.

The European Commission had previously issued a “comfort letter”, confirming the measure’s compliance with EU law, provided certain amendments were adopted—now fully integrated into the new text.

Initially introduced in 2024, the scheme allows high-energy-consuming industries to receive electricity in advance at a regulated price, in exchange for a commitment to build renewable energy plants that will repay the energy over a 20-year period.

Energy Release 2.0 introduces key changes:

• A competitive selection process will be used to identify the parties responsible for developing new generation capacity and for repaying the advanced energy.

• A safeguard clause is included to prevent excessive profits (over-returns) at the end of the 20-year contractual period, also taking into account the triennial advance payment at a regulated price (set at €65/MWh, as allocated by the GSE in March 2025).

• The measure ensures legal and economic continuity, preserving previously awarded energy allocations and maintaining financial sustainability for participating companies.

Minister Pichetto stated: “Energy Release 2.0 is a strategic tool to support the development of new renewable capacity in Italy and to sustain the competitiveness of our industrial system, particularly energy-intensive enterprises. We worked constructively with the European Commission, achieving a result that strengthens the legal soundness and effectiveness of the measure, without delaying or affecting previously made allocations.”

The decree also includes a financial compensation mechanism and the automatic extension of contracts, should there be residual economic benefit at the end of the twenty-year term.

The decree will now be submitted to the Court of Auditors and will be published on the Ministry’s website once it appears in the Official Gazette.