By Svetlana Kovalyova
MILAN, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Italy is investigating a jump in solar power installations for possible cases of fraud aimed at tapping government incentives, Industry Minister Paolo Romani said in a letter published on Thursday.
Some 55,000 requests for incentives covering 4,000 megawatts (MW) of solar capacity were received by state energy services agency GSE as operators rushed to sign up before they expired at the end of last year.
'As we feared, cases of real fraud have emerged,' Romani said in a letter to newspaper Corriere della Sera.
'It's an abnormal acceleration,' he said. 'Controls have started immediately.'
Italy, which has Europe's third-largest photovoltaic (PV) market, cut production incentives citing falling costs of PV modules, which turn sunlight into power.
Its solar market has boomed since 2007 when production incentives, among the most generous in Europe, were launched. It has attracted the world's biggest PV module makers and investors ranging from banks and private equity funds to families.
The 4,000 MW of new capacity reported at the end of 2010 has to be connected to the grid by the end of June to qualify for the earlier incentives. The new capacity would raise Italy's total installed PV capacity to 7,000 MW, GSE has said.
Romani said one 8 MW industrial-sized installation in the southern region of Puglia, a hotbed of solar power, turned out to be a 40 KW family-size installation.
Incentives would be given to cover only that PV capacity which really produces electricity, he said. Nothing would be disbursed to the last-minute requests before controls were completed, the minister said.
Italy's total installed PV capacity could reach 8,000 MW by the end of this year, hitting a target the country has set for 2020, GSE has said. The rapid expansion has raised concerns among investors and market operators that the boom may collapse without incentives.
Italy's PV industry association GIFI has said such capacity spikes as reported at the end of last year were not healthy for the industry and said it was drafting proposals for new incentive mechanisms.
China's Suntech Power Holdings Co, Trina, Yilgli Green Energy and U.S. firm First Solar are the main suppliers to Italy, industry operators have said.
(Reporting by Svetlana Kovalyova; Editing by Jason Neely) Keywords: ITALY SOLAR/ (svetlana.kovalyova@thomsonreuters.com; +39 02 661 29450; Reuters Messaging: svetlana.kovalyova.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
MILAN, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Italy is investigating a jump in solar power installations for possible cases of fraud aimed at tapping government incentives, Industry Minister Paolo Romani said in a letter published on Thursday.
Some 55,000 requests for incentives covering 4,000 megawatts (MW) of solar capacity were received by state energy services agency GSE as operators rushed to sign up before they expired at the end of last year.
'As we feared, cases of real fraud have emerged,' Romani said in a letter to newspaper Corriere della Sera.
'It's an abnormal acceleration,' he said. 'Controls have started immediately.'
Italy, which has Europe's third-largest photovoltaic (PV) market, cut production incentives citing falling costs of PV modules, which turn sunlight into power.
Its solar market has boomed since 2007 when production incentives, among the most generous in Europe, were launched. It has attracted the world's biggest PV module makers and investors ranging from banks and private equity funds to families.
The 4,000 MW of new capacity reported at the end of 2010 has to be connected to the grid by the end of June to qualify for the earlier incentives. The new capacity would raise Italy's total installed PV capacity to 7,000 MW, GSE has said.
Romani said one 8 MW industrial-sized installation in the southern region of Puglia, a hotbed of solar power, turned out to be a 40 KW family-size installation.
Incentives would be given to cover only that PV capacity which really produces electricity, he said. Nothing would be disbursed to the last-minute requests before controls were completed, the minister said.
Italy's total installed PV capacity could reach 8,000 MW by the end of this year, hitting a target the country has set for 2020, GSE has said. The rapid expansion has raised concerns among investors and market operators that the boom may collapse without incentives.
Italy's PV industry association GIFI has said such capacity spikes as reported at the end of last year were not healthy for the industry and said it was drafting proposals for new incentive mechanisms.
China's Suntech Power Holdings Co, Trina, Yilgli Green Energy and U.S. firm First Solar are the main suppliers to Italy, industry operators have said.
(Reporting by Svetlana Kovalyova; Editing by Jason Neely) Keywords: ITALY SOLAR/ (svetlana.kovalyova@thomsonreuters.com; +39 02 661 29450; Reuters Messaging: svetlana.kovalyova.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
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