Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) represented Grupotec before the Italian Council of State (“CdS”) in proceedings concerning its construction of a 20 MW photovoltaic (“PV”) plant in the Province of Avellino.
The CdS rejected an appeal brought by the Ministry of Culture, which opposed the construction of the PV plant arguing it violated landscape regulations. The CdS’s rejection of the appeal upheld the ruling of the Regional Administrative Court of Campania which had already approved the legality of the plant’s construction.
In its judgment, the CdS agreed with WFW that the Ministry of Culture’s opinion made during a Conferenza dei Servizi (meeting of relevant authorities) was not binding in accordance with the new Article 9 of the Constitution, which states that priority is not given to the protection of the environment if over other interests of equal importance also arise such as, in this case, energy transition goals.
Grupotec is a leading Spanish PV company with over two decades expertise in engineering and construction in sector. Its current portfolio comprises 1300+ MW built and 650 MW operational assets worldwide.
The WFW Administrative and Regulatory team that represented Grupotec was led by Partner Giannalberto Mazzei, working closely with Associate Cesare Fossati and Corporate Partner Carlo Cosmelli.
