Vatican plans €100 million agrivoltaic plant to power Holy See

The Vatican is moving forward with a roughly €100 million ($117 million) renewable energy project that could make the Holy See fully energy self-sufficient within two years, according to sources involved in the discussions.

The agrivoltaic plant, to be built at the Vatican-owned Santa Maria di Galeria estate on Rome's northwestern outskirts, is expected to have a capacity of 80 to 90 megawatts. That would rank it among Italy's largest installations of its kind. In agrivoltaic systems, solar panels are mounted several metres above the ground, allowing crops to grow beneath them while the shade reduces evaporation and shields plants from extreme weather.

A joint Italian-Vatican commission met earlier this month to launch the project, after Italy ratified a 2025 bilateral agreement for the development of the site. Officials did not disclose cost, capacity, or timeline details at the meeting, but the sources said the plant could take 18 to 24 months to complete, including permitting and administrative procedures.

The plant is designed to supply power to Vatican Radio's transmission station at the estate, which has hosted broadcast facilities since the 1950s. The electricity could also serve Holy See-linked properties, including Rome's Bambino Gesù hospital. Any surplus power would be made available to Italy.

Tracking solar panels would cover about 200 hectares, nearly half of the 450-hectare estate, one source said. The Vatican will not benefit from Italian solar incentives for households and businesses.

The project was a priority for the late Pope Francis, the first pontiff to accept the scientific consensus on climate change, and has been endorsed by Pope Leo XIV. The bilateral agreement extends the special status granted to Vatican Radio facilities to the agrivoltaic project, including exemptions from Italian taxes and public charges. Italy's ratification law states the implementation must not add any new burden on public finances.

Contracts for the work will go out to tender in the coming weeks. The Vatican did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Vatican City, the world's smallest country at 108 acres with fewer than 900 residents, has previously embraced solar power. In 2008, German companies donated 2,400 photovoltaic panels installed on the Nervi Hall, which hosts papal audiences.