Nadara and Amazon power up Italy’s largest agrivoltaic plant in Sicily with 227MW Big Fish project
Big Fish is the largest agrivoltaic plant in Italy, with a total capacity of 227MW.
Located near Catania in Sicily, the agrivoltaic design keeps half the 400-hectare site dedicated to active farming.
The project was completed with financial backing by Amazon, who have entered a Power Purchasing Agreement (PPA) of 156MW from the project.
This agreement reinforces Nadara's growing footprint in Italy and its position as a leading NextGen IPP delivering utility-scale renewable energy across Europe.
Nadara,a NextGen Independent Power Producer (IPP+) with operations in Europe and the US, today announces the completion of Big Fish, the largest agrivoltaic plant in Italy. The 227MW project was made possible through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) of 156MW with Amazon. The agreement builds on an existing relationship between the two companies that spans previous PPAs in Finland and Italy.
Located approximately 40km from Mount Etna across the municipalities of Catania, Lentini, and Motta Sant'Anastasia, Big Fish was constructed over a period of 12 months involving over 900 workers, spanning 400 hectares across 15 plots. Its agrivoltaic design keeps half the site dedicated to active farming, demonstrating that large-scale renewable energy and productive land use are not mutually exclusive.
Beyond bringing new sources of carbon-free energy to local communities, Big Fish is designed to deliver lasting value to the area around it. Local municipalities will benefit from a minimum of €17.25m in energy efficiency services and funding over the plant's lifetime, including infrastructure upgrades, monitoring systems for public buildings, and electric vehicles for municipal use. A further 38,000 trees have been planted and 2.5km of public waterways are maintained as part of the site's environmental commitments. This reflects Nadara’s commitment to long-term partnerships and puts community engagement at the heart of its operations.
Jorge Martinez, Chief Growth Officer at Nadara, said: “The biggest impact Nadara can have on mitigating climate change is by generating more renewable energy, and that impact should be felt globally, nationally, regionally and locally. This is why we take such pride in partnering with local communities to develop solutions that work for everyone. Big Fish is a good example of what that looks like in practice. Agrivoltaic development is still maturing as a large-scale practice, and there is something genuinely exciting about a site where the land continues to feed people while also powering homes. It asks us to think carefully about how we use space, how we work with farmers and local communities, and how we design projects that leave something lasting behind. That kind of thinking is what we want to bring to every market we operate in.”
Giorgio Busnelli, Italy Country Manager at Amazon, said: “As the largest corporate buyer of carbon-free energy in Italy, we want to support projects that are good for the energy transition and good for the communities around them. Big Fish does both – with thousands of new trees, beehives, electric vehicles and upgraded public buildings for nearby municipalities all part of the project's design. As we work toward our goal of net-zero carbon by 2040, we think renewable energy projects should leave communities better than they found them.”
As part of its goal to reach net-zero carbon by 2040, Amazon has contributed to the development of eight utility-scale solar projects in Italy. In addition, Amazon has also installed 32 solar systems on its facilities in the country. Together, these 40 projects have an estimated capacity of 532MW and are part of more than 260 projects in Europe, providing more than 10GW of new carbon-free energy capacity once completed.
Agrivoltaics - the colocation of solar photovoltaic energy generation and agricultural activity on the same land - are central to what makes Big Fish the largest agrivoltaic plant in Italy. At Big Fish, half of the 400-hectare site remains dedicated to active farming, with crops grown by farmers who previously worked the land. The cropping system for Big Fish has been developed in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment of the University of Catania. To enable continued cultivation, photovoltaic panels have been positioned up to three metres above the ground, overhead cables have been routed around the edge of the site, and 14 wells have been constructed or reinstated to irrigate the soil. The site's agrivoltaic design also supports biodiversity: Big Fish's beehives will produce around 4.5 tonnes of honey each year.
Alongside Big Fish, Nadara has also completed Sardella, a 46MW solar PV project. Sitting side by side and constructed simultaneously, the two projects together form the largest solar development ever delivered in Italy. Sardella reflects Nadara’s commitment to creating lasting value for local communities through dedicated energy efficiency initiatives in the municipality of Belpasso, while integrating renewable energy production with innovative agrivoltaic activities and environmental enhancement measures.