The agrivoltaic plant will make use of the Holy See’s property at Santa Maria di Galeria. Located on the edge of Rome, the 424-hectare site houses the transmission facilities for Vatican Radio, thanks to a 1951 agreement between the Holy See and the Italian State. The new plant is intended to supply the energy needs of Vatican Radio and contribute to “the complete energy sustenance of Vatican City State.”
The construction of the agrivoltaic plant has been entrusted to the President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, Cardinal Fernando Véregez Alzaga, LC; and the President of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, Archbishop Giordano Piccinotti, SDB. With the motu proprio, the Holy Father has appointed the two prelates as “Extraordinary Commissioners” with full powers to bring the scheme to completion, while also empowering them to communicate with the Italian government, in accordance with the Lateran Treaty, concerning the works that will be undertaken on the site.
Pope Francis has direscted the Vatican’s Secretariat of State to facilitate “every request of the Extraordinary Commissioners and work to ensure that in that territory nothing is lost of what has been available to the Apostolic See thus far.”
