The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €89.5 million Italian measure made available through the Recovery and Resilience Facility ('RRF') to support the expansion of 3Sun's solar panel plant in Catania, Sicily. The measure will contribute to the EU's strategic objectives relating to the European Green Deal and to reinforce the EU strategic autonomy.
The Italian measure
The measure notified by Italy will be funded by the RRF, following the Commission's positive assessment of Italy's Recovery and Resilience Plan and its adoption by the Council. The aid will take the form of a €89.5 million direct grant to support 3Sun's investment for the expansion of its solar panels factory in Catania, Sicily. 3Sun is part of the Enel Group.
The project will expand the annual capacity of 3Sun's existing plant from 200 MW to more than 3 GW. It will also introduce a new technology called "TANDEM", which will improve the panel efficiency and therefore increase significantly the energy generated by each MW installed.
The factory will be the largest solar panels manufacturing site in Europe, which will ultimately reduce the EU dependency on imports from foreign manufacturers. The gigafactory is expected to create almost 650 direct jobs.
The Commission's assessment
The Commission assessed the Italian measure under EU State aid rules, in particular Article 107(3)(a) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union ('TFEU'), which enables Member States to grant aid to promote the economic development of areas where the standard of living is abnormally low or where there is serious underemployment, and the Regional Aid Guidelines ('RAG').
The Commission found that:
- The measure will contribute to the economic development and to the competitiveness of a disadvantaged area. In particular, the measure will have a positive impact on employment by creating almost 650 direct jobs in Sicily.
- The aid has an incentive effect, as the beneficiary would not have carried out the project without the public support.
- The measure has a limited impact on competition and trade within the EU. In particular, it is necessary and appropriate to ensure the expansion of the solar panel plant.
- The aid is proportionate and limited to the minimum necessary to trigger the investment and will not exceed the maximum amounts of set out in Italian regional aid map.
On this basis, the Commission approved the Italian measure under EU State aid rules.
Background
All investments and reforms entailing State aid included in the national recovery plans presented in the context of the RRF must be notified to the Commission for prior approval, unless covered by one of the State aid block-exemption rules.
The Commission assesses measures entailing State aid contained in the national recovery plans presented in the context of the RRF as a matter of priority and has provided guidance and support to Member States in the preparatory phases of the national plans, to facilitate the rapid deployment of the RRF. At the same time, the Commission makes sure in its decision that the applicable State aid rules are complied with, in order to preserve the level playing field in the Single Market and ensure that the RRF funds are used in a way that minimises competition distortions and do not crowd out private investment.
The RAG set out the rules under which Member States can grant State aid to companies to support investments in new production facilities in the less advantaged regions of Europe, while ensuring a level playing field between Member States.
The non-confidential version of the decision will be made available under the case number SA.104269 in the State aid register on the Commission's competition website. New publications of State aid decisions on the internet and in the Official Journal are listed in the Competition Weekly e-News.
