Emilia-Romagna: Law 5/2026 identifies suitable areas for renewables

The Emilia-Romagna Region has identified, through regional law no. 5 of May 29, 2026, the areas suitable and unsuitable for the installation of plants powered by renewable sources, including electrochemical storage and electrolyzers. The text, approved by the Regional Legislative Assembly and signed by President De Pascale, is published in the Official Bulletin of the Region no. 135 of May 29, 2026, and is reproduced in the Official Gazette 3rd Special Series no. 40 of October 17, 2026, with reference 26R00184. The law comes into force the day following its publication in the regional bulletin.

The regulation implements articles 2, 3, 11-bis, 11-ter, and 11-quinquies of legislative decree no. 190 of November 25, 2024, in application of art. 26, paragraphs 4 and 5, of law no. 118 of August 5, 2022. The set objective is an incremental 6.3 gigawatts compared to the data as of December 31, 2020, in table 1 of annex C-bis of the same decree, with a potential increase in installed capacity by 2030 of 10 gigawatts, prioritizing industrial warehouses, parking lots, and already urbanized areas.

The new suitable areas

In addition to the areas already provided for by national legislation, art. 3 considers as suitable:

• areas within 100 meters of sites subject to remediation pursuant to part four, title V, of legislative decree no. 152 of April 3, 2006;
• areas within 50 meters of data centers and Integrated Water Service plants, solely for the purpose of self-consumption;
• areas of interports and those of the urbanized territory classified as ecologically equipped areas and functional hubs;
• restored quarries and road roundabouts, in compliance with the Highway Code;
• areas for biogas and biomethane classified as specialized areas for productive activities and those in which geothermal resources are ascertained;
• areas available to the Port System Authority, for self-consumption and the electrification of quays.

The identification of an area as suitable does not grant the right to installation, but determines the applicability of the administrative simplifications of art. 11-quater of legislative decree no. 190 of 2024.

Caps on agricultural land

Art. 4 sets an overall limit of 1.5 percent of the regional utilized agricultural area (UAA), calculated based on the year 2020, and a cap of 2.5 percent of the municipal UAA, which may be increased by municipal resolution. The calculation of the occupied surface varies by technology: for ground-mounted photovoltaics, it is the entire fenced area; for agrivoltaics, 30 percent of the affected surface; for wind power, the ground projection of the rotor sweep area plus the service roads.

Sixty days after the publication on the Region’s website that the thresholds have been reached, new applications are declared inadmissible, without prejudice to ongoing procedures and those held by renewable energy communities.

Thresholds for photovoltaic, agrivoltaic, and wind power

• Ground-mounted photovoltaics: 30 percent increase in the power threshold subject to the Simplified Enabling Procedure, if at least 50 percent of the energy is intended for self-consumption or supply contracts with a duration of no less than five years.
• Agrivoltaics: continuity of agricultural activity is guaranteed if the actual gross marketable production does not fall below 80 percent of the standard production, with triennial verification and a recovery plan in case of loss.
• Wind power: minimum production of 2,300 equivalent hours per year, with anemometric or LiDAR measurement within one kilometer of the site for at least one year; single turbines up to 60 kilowatts and self-consumption installations up to 200 kilowatts are permitted.
• Floating plants: up to 80 percent of the free surface of the water body, with a free strip of at least ten meters from the shore and a prohibition where the depth is equal to or less than three meters.

Monitoring, sanctions, and Regional Table

Within ninety days of entry into force, the Regional Council must define the mapping system for suitable areas, the semi-annual monitoring of the UAA (Utilized Agricultural Area), and the guidelines on compensations and landscape integration. The proponent must provide a bank or insurance guarantee for removal and restoration, extended at least three years after decommissioning.

Art. 18 establishes the Regional Coordination Table for the development of renewable sources and network infrastructures, with representatives from the Region, transmission and distribution operators, the regional ANCI, the regional UPI, and the Metropolitan City of Bologna; the Table has no authorizing functions. Art. 21 repeals the Legislative Assembly resolutions 28/2010, 51/2011, and 125/2023, except for provisions regarding high-value crops.

For businesses and territories, the effect is twofold: the regional map indicates where construction occurs with simplifications, while the caps on the UAA and producibility thresholds restrict margins in agricultural areas, with triennial verification of agrivoltaic requirements and municipal sanctions for fraudulent splitting or agricultural abandonment.

Official Gazette of the Italian Republic, 3rd Special Series no. 40 of October 17, 2026 — regional law May 29, 2026, no. 5 (26R00184).