The project is expected to have a capacity of 80 to 90 megawatts and will be developed at the Vatican-owned Santa Maria di Galeria estate on the north-western outskirts of Rome. Sources involved in discussions said construction could take between 18 and 24 months, including permitting and administrative procedures.
The project was formally advanced earlier this month when a joint Italian-Vatican commission met to launch the initiative. The development follows Italy’s ratification this year of a 2025 bilateral agreement governing development of the site. Officials did not disclose the project’s cost, capacity or timetable following the meeting, and the Vatican did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The planned facility will use agrivoltaic technology, in which solar panels are mounted several metres above the ground, allowing crops to grow beneath them. The shade provided by the panels can reduce evaporation and protect crops from extreme weather while generating electricity.
The Santa Maria di Galeria estate covers roughly 450 hectares and has hosted Vatican Radio’s transmission facilities since the 1950s. The planned solar installation would occupy a substantial portion of the property. One of the sources said tracking solar panels would cover about 200 hectares, almost half of the estate.
The facility is intended primarily to supply electricity to Vatican Radio’s transmission station and help make Vatican City State fully energy self-sufficient. Power could also be used by properties linked to the Holy See, including Rome’s Bambino Gesù hospital.
Any electricity generated beyond the Vatican’s requirements would instead be made available to Italy. The Vatican will not qualify for the financial incentives available to Italian households and businesses that install solar power.
The project carries particular significance for the Vatican’s environmental policy. It was a priority of the late Pope Francis, the first pontiff to accept the scientific consensus on climate change, and has been endorsed by Pope Leo XIV.
The development also reflects a broader institutional arrangement between Italy and Vatican City. Under the bilateral agreement, the agrivoltaic project will receive the special status already granted to Vatican Radio facilities, including exemptions from Italian taxes and public charges. Italy’s ratification law states that implementation of the agreement must not create any new or additional burden on public finances.
Once completed, the installation would represent a major transformation for an institution whose sovereign territory covers just 108 acres and has fewer than 900 residents. Although Vatican City is the world’s smallest country, the Holy See’s activities extend well beyond its borders through its properties and institutions across Rome.
Contracts for the project are expected to be put out to tender in the coming weeks. If the timetable discussed by sources is maintained, the solar-agriculture facility could begin transforming the Vatican’s energy supply within two years.
The planned project builds on an earlier Vatican investment in solar power. In 2008, during the pontificate of German-born Pope Benedict XVI, German companies SolarWorld and SMA Solar Technology donated 2,400 photovoltaic panels and related equipment installed on the roof of the Nervi Hall, which hosts papal audiences and concerts.
The new project would take that earlier initiative considerably further, turning the Vatican’s commitment to renewable energy from a symbolic installation into a large-scale effort aimed at energy self-sufficiency.
