Sicily Regional Administrative Court – Renewable projects: preliminary agreements are sufficient to fulfill the land availability requirement

With Ordinance No. 1006/2025 dated May 8^th, 2025, the Palermo Regional Administrative Court issued clarifications of remarkable importance in respect of the development of renewable projects in the Sicily Region, particularly with respect to the requirement of “land availability” for plant installation.

The ruling regards a request to annul a note from the Energy Department of the Sicilian Region which required the operator to submit, before the issuance of the authorization title, copies of duly registered and recorded (registrati e trascritti) definitive agreements to prove the legal availability of the lands involved by the relevant project.

The Court clarified that, in line with Art. 2, Par. 2 of the Regional Law no. 29/2015, it is sufficient to submit the relevant preliminary agreements (duly registered and recorded) to demonstrate the fulfillment of the land availability requirement.

The submission of the definitive agreements, on the contrary, may be postponed to the phase following the issuance of the authorization title.

As emphasized by the administrative judges, preliminary agreements — also considering Article 2932 of the Italian Civil Code, concerning specific performance of the obligation to conclude a contract — are, then, suitable for proving the availability of the relevant projects’ land.

This is clearly a highly significant ruling, particularly in light of its practical and financial implications for market operators which, in the last few months, had to endure with significant investment costs in the framework of the development of renewable projects, given the significant expenses associated with the execution of definitive agreements prior to the successful completion of the authorization process.

The next hearing for discussing the merits of the case has been scheduled on next September 24^th, 2025, even though, as underlined above, the Court position on the matter at the stake already appears quite clear.