Through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), the Italian government has introduced various initiatives to improve the energy efficiency of public and private buildings to achieve the European target of total decarbonization of the civil sector by 2050. Among other things, the NRRP provides for several far-reaching measures for improving buildings’ energy efficiency, including (i) financing the energy and seismic renovation of residential buildings and encouraging the in-depth redevelopment and transformation of public buildings into “nearly zero-energy buildings,” (ii) supporting the development of more efficient district heating networks, (iii) building new and greener schools and renovating the existing ones to halve energy consumption, and (iv) providing funds to encourage private buildings’ energy transition, mainly through tax-saving measures (as described above).
Among the initiatives provided for by the NRRP, there is the increase of the National Energy Efficiency Fund, an incentive that supports energy efficiency interventions to ensure the achievement of national energy efficiency targets. The fund provides for two different types of financial aids (low-interest financing of 0.25%, and guarantees on individual financing transactions that are requested from financial institutions), which can cover different kinds of projects, including energy requalification of buildings and reduction of energy consumption in industrial processes. The fund is aimed at public administrations, private companies and energy-saving companies. However, as of 1 January 2024, access to the fund is temporarily closed to private companies.
Moreover, the Ministerial Decree of 4 July 2019 (“Fer Decree”) introduced incentives aimed at promoting the spread of renewable energy. Among the incentivized projects, the Fer Decree also includes the installation of photovoltaic panels meant to replace roofs of rural buildings on which asbestos is/was present. The measure has a double objective, since it promotes the development of new renewable energy plants, while also improving the safety of buildings.
The Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy has also launched several tenders related to the NRRP funds to promote the sustainable transition, including through financing energy efficiency projects. Among them was the project named “Sustainable investments 4.0,” which made available to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) operating in the southern part of Italy a fund amounting to EUR 400 million to promote and finance, among other things, energy efficiency projects (e.g., implementing energy consumption monitoring systems and installing thermal or electrical energy production plants from renewable sources).
Furthermore, several regions have issued calls for tenders aimed at improving the energy efficiency of public buildings. For example, the Piemonte region has published the “Energy efficiency and energy production from renewable sources in public buildings — public-private partnership contracts” tender, open to public entities to provide grants for implementing projects for the energy efficiency of buildings and promoting renewable energy sources. The tender concerns public buildings used for public activities (e.g., institutional, social, educational or cultural activities).
Alongside financing the energy transition of public buildings, regional tenders may also concern private undertakings’ projects, mostly with reference to SMEs. For example, the Liguria region has provided a fund of EUR 4,060,000 aimed at reducing SMEs’ energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
Lastly, in the context of green public procurement, minimum environmental criteria (CAM) may apply, providing for specific sustainability-related criteria that public procurement stations have to apply with reference to certain categories of works, including construction works.
In particular, the CAM establish criteria related, among other things, to the sustainability of materials, safeguarding of water resources, ESG risk assessment and more.
With regard to the private sector, several banks offer businesses and households energy-efficiency loan financing.