When it comes to renewables, Sardinia remains the worst-performing region in Italy. But perhaps things are starting to change

Six hundred megawatts short of the installed renewable capacity targets. This is the hefty bill that Alessandra Todde’s Sardinia continues to rack up on renewables, confirming its status as Italy’s worst-performing region in terms of the Pniec (National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan) targets. However, after two years of political and legal wrangling between the president and the companies wishing to invest in the region, things seem to be starting to move. But we’ll get to that. The July 2026 update to Terna’s data on installed renewable capacity paints a disastrous picture: Sardinia should have installed 1,935 megawatts, but has only reached 1,336. The figures for other regions governed by the broad coalition are also very poor: Tuscany (-303 megawatts), Umbria (-193) and Puglia (-267). 

It was the figures that convinced over a hundred scientists and researchers to appeal to leaders across the political spectrum to urge local councillors not to oppose the plants on ideological grounds. It is regrettable that, three months after the appeal, Schlein and Conte have not even met with them.

In Sardinia, however, as we mentioned, things may be starting to change. Or at least that is the hope of the companies involved. In September, the extraordinary regional commission on energy is finally due to begin work; its chair will most likely be Stefano Tunis, a regional councillor for Sardegna 2020 – a centrist opposition list – who has been criticising the Sardinian president for months on the issue of renewables. More than a few see this move as an attempt by Todde to share responsibility for future power plants which, having overcome regional obstructionism, will begin to be built. The Sardinian Energy Company is also set to be established – a public enterprise aimed at purchasing part of the energy produced by renewable energy companies before reselling it at a small mark-up, thereby capping prices for Sardinians and creating a fund for public investment, modelled on the approach taken by similar public companies in the Aosta Valley and the province of Bolzano.

A recent meeting involving the Sardinian president also suggests that things are moving forward. According to sources consulted by "Il Foglio", Todde is said to have met with the chairman of ERG, Edoardo Garrone, in recent weeks. Following the successful outcome of numerous appeals against the regional government, work is set to begin shortly on the repowering of the company’s wind farm in Nulvi-Ploaghe, in the Sassari area. Todde is reported to have stated that she is now in favour of the project.

Furthermore, through a budget amendment, the Region of Sardinia has allocated 4.8 million, to be spread over 2026 and 2027, for the creation of specialist technical offices on renewable energy within provinces and metropolitan cities to assess projects. The assessments will be carried out in accordance with Regional Law 20/2024, the legislation under which Todde had designated only 1 per cent of the territory as suitable for the installation of renewable energy plants. The law provided that it would be automatically impossible – without even the initiation of a preliminary investigation – to construct plants outside these areas. In 2025, the Regional Constitutional Council struck down this part of the regional law. Todde therefore imposed a moratorium to prevent preliminary investigations into plants in unsuitable areas, pending the drafting of regulations (which were never drawn up). At the end of July, the Constitutional Court also struck down this moratorium. Consequently, the technical departments will now also have to deal with any preliminary investigations into wind farms outside the boundaries of the suitable areas. And, partly for this reason, some are suggesting that the president – who has now been defeated in all judicial forums – is softening her stance: Todde is reportedly unwilling to attempt to halt the wind farms through further regional legislation.