Key facts: Italy
- Support scheme
- GSE FER auctions and FER X premium contracts; ritiro dedicato; merchant and PPA
- Balancing responsibility
- Utente del dispacciamento with Terna; UVAM for aggregated MSD participation
- Transmission system operator
- Terna
- Exchanges
- GME day-ahead (MGP), intraday (MI, MI-XBID) and MSD
- Settlement interval
- 15 min
- Currency
- EUR
- Bidding zones
- 7 zones: Nord, Centro-Nord, Centro-Sud, Sud, Calabria, Sicilia, Sardegna
The Italian power market for renewables
Italy is Europe's second-largest solar market by installed capacity and one of its most complex: producers are paid the zonal price of one of seven bidding zones, while buyers historically paid the national PUN. Prices in the south and islands diverge sharply from the north on sunny days, and Italian wholesale prices are structurally among the highest in Europe because gas sets the margin.
That combination makes zonal forecasting and curtailment management central to renewable revenue.
FER auctions, ritiro dedicato and dispatching responsibility
New capacity is supported through GSE auctions under the FER decrees, which award premium contracts settled against the zonal price. Smaller producers may use ritiro dedicato, where GSE buys the output, but market sale through an aggregator usually earns more. The 2024 FER X decree extends the auction route to larger volumes.
Every producer needs an utente del dispacciamento that is liable for imbalances with Terna. Through the UVAM scheme, aggregated portfolios of renewables, storage and loads can qualify to offer services on the MSD.
GME day-ahead, intraday and the MSD dispatching market
GME runs the day-ahead MGP, coupled with the EU, and intraday sessions plus continuous trading through XBID. Terna buys balancing and congestion services on the MSD, the deepest ancillary-service market in Europe by volume.
Batteries additionally gain from MACSE, Terna's capacity auction for storage, which from 2025 awards long-term contracts for new storage in the southern zones.
What SAMAWATT offers in Italy
SAMAWATT trades Italian solar, wind and batteries on GME, carries dispatching-user responsibility, and optimises each asset against its zonal price, intraday sessions and MSD opportunities through UVAM aggregation.
Curtailment management across MI1 to MI7 and negative-price avoidance in Sud and the islands are part of the standard service.
- GME Day-Ahead (MGP)
- Mercato del giorno prima
- Terna dispatching (MSD)
- UVAM (virtual aggregation)
- Solar curtailment reduction
- Intraday MI1–MI7
- Zone price optimisation