Vatican to build a large solar power plant for €100 million
The Vatican plans to build one of Italy's largest solar power plants, with a capacity of 80 to 90 MW and a cost of about 100 million euros.
The facility will be located in the Santa Maria di Galeria area on the northwestern outskirts of Rome. Construction will take between a year and a half and two years, and the first tenders for the work will be announced in the coming weeks.
The project was promoted by Pope Francis and received further support from Pope Leo XIV. In June 2026, the special Fratello Sole foundation was established to implement it. The plant will make it possible to fully supply electricity to the facilities of Vatican Radio and to make the Holy See completely self-sufficient in the field of energy, while surplus generated capacity will be fed into Italy's power grid. Agrivoltaic rotating panels will be installed on the 200-hectare site, allowing energy generation to be combined with farming.
