By decision no. 2983/2021 the Council of State, rejecting the opposition proposed by Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities (“MIBACT”) against a single regional authorization (Autorizzazione Unica Regionale) issued by the Lazio Region for the construction of a photovoltaic plant, established as follows:
i) for the purposes of the authorization of FER plants, the balancing act that the Public Authority is required to carry out is not only between the protection of the environment and the business interest of the private party, insofar as the production of electricity from renewable sources is an activity of public interest that itself contributes to the protection of environmental interests and, indirectly, also to that of landscape values;
ii) in lack of express constraints, the proceeding Authority is not burdened by a particular motivational burden to overcome the negative opinion expressed by the MIBACT, also because the prevailing opinion that the Regions are called upon to express must take into account the public interest “in the realization of FER plants”;
iii) the national legislation allows the construction of FER plants in agricultural areas, granting the regions only with the power to identify – on the basis of specific assumptions – the unsuitable areas; in the absence of such prior identification, the assessment must be made on a case-by-case basis, as part of the single procedure aimed at issuing the authorization.
Pinella Altiero_ Giuseppe Andrea D’Alessio
Lexia Energy Team
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