And so the large field splits up on the Israeli green in Piedmont

“Foreign policy is being confused with corporate law; we are talking about a private company that has absolutely nothing to do with military operations in Gaza.” This is how Vittoria Nallo, a regional councillor for Italia Viva in Piedmont – elected on the ‘United States of Europe’ ticket – commented to Il Foglio on the case of the 47 MW agrivoltaic plant in Biella, which has been opposed by Ultima Generazione, Legambiente and the Five Star Movement. The reason? Econergy, the company seeking to build it, is Israeli. It has no direct links to Gaza, is not involved in any way in military operations, and is not even mentioned in the reports by NGOs calling for a boycott of Israeli companies operating in the “occupied territories”. Yet, according to the environmentalists – the very same people who would like to see more solar panels instead of nuclear power – this is enough to deem the project “ethically unacceptable”.

“My condemnation of what is happening in Gaza is clear and unambiguous, just as my support for the energy transition and renewable energy sources remains equally firm. But it would be a mistake to reduce a complex issue such as that of Cavaglià to an ideological conflict,” says Emanuela Verzella, a regional councillor in Piedmont for the Democratic Party. “The Biella area must not become a battleground for ideological conflict, in either direction,” continues the Democrat, who was elected in Biella itself. “The point is another,” she says, “namely that any project, regardless of the source of its funding, must be subject to rigorous and transparent assessments, with the utmost attention paid to verifying its impact on the local area, the landscape and, above all, on agricultural production and local specialities.” From this perspective, Econergy’s place of origin would not work against it. “Israel has been a world leader in agricultural technology for many years. They know exactly what they’re talking about,” emphasises Alberto Avetta, who also sits on the Regional Council for the PD. “The immediate association between Israeli companies and the Netanyahu government is, first and foremost, detrimental to the activities of Israeli entrepreneurs. I believe that the province of Biella will assess the merits and sustainability of the project, certainly not on the basis of the proponents’ place of residence. That is not an objective assessment criterion.”

The local M5S takes a different view, arguing instead that “a licence for economic activity should be denied to any entity linked to Israel that has been implicated in the genocide in Gaza”, wrote the provincial spokesperson. Alice Ravinale, AVS group leader in the Regional Council and regional secretary of Sinistra Italiana, takes a similar line. “The shareholders of this Ecoenergy company are firms that play quite significant roles within the occupied Palestinian territories; one cannot reduce the whole issue to mere prejudice based on origin.” It is a problem, she continues, “to allow capital to flow here that is in some way dependent on activities carried out in an illegally occupied territory”.

Vittoria Nallo, former city coordinator for Italia Viva in Turin, sees things differently: “This incident, coming hot on the heels of the regional council vote on the ‘Suitable Areas’ bill, really struck a chord with me.” The measure, approved on 21 July, aims to identify further areas for the installation of solar panels, whilst preserving crops and the landscape. The aim is to meet the government’s target by 2030 of nearly 5 gigawatts of new capacity from renewable sources. Yet, Nallo adds, “protests based on unfounded assumptions can pose a risk to the local area and the energy transition. If we truly regard climate change as a priority, we cannot choose which plants and companies to support based on the investors’ background. The energy transition,’ he concludes, ‘requires more innovation, renewables, nuclear power and an energy mix capable of guaranteeing our businesses security, independence and decarbonisation’. The NIMBY protest – with its impact ranging from the landscape to PDO crops – is flexing its muscles and becoming more international, whilst yet another, umpteenth, disagreement is putting the broad coalition yet to come to the test.

Riccardo Carlino