Request for a preliminary ruling from the Consiglio di Stato (Italy) lodged on 30 January 2024 – Higreen Power Srl v Gestore dei Servizi Energetici SpA – GSE, Presidenza del Consiglio dei ministri, Consiglio dei Ministri, Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze, Ministero dell’ambiente e della sicurezza energetica, Ministero delle Imprese e del Made in Italy, Autorità di Regolazione per Energia Reti e Ambiente (ARERA)

(Case C-66/24, Higreen Power)

Language of the case: Italian

Referring court

Consiglio di Stato

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Higreen Power Srl

Defendants: Gestore dei Servizi Energetici SpA – GSE, Presidenza del Consiglio dei ministri, Consiglio dei Ministri, Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze, Ministero dell’ambiente e della sicurezza energetica, Ministero delle Imprese e del Made in Italy, Autorità di Regolazione per Energia Reti e Ambiente (ARERA)

Question referred

Do the principles set out in Article 3 of Directive 200[9]/28/EC ¹ and Article 4 of Directive (EU) 2018/2001 ² preclude or not preclude national legislation, such as Article 7(7) of the Decree of the Ministry of Economic Development of 4 July 2019, which, in the context of a national support scheme for the production of energy from renewable sources, provides, in situations where producers sell energy on the free market, for an incentive mechanism (so-called ‘two-way’ mechanism) under which, with respect solely to newly constructed plants with a capacity equal to or greater than 250 kW, the incentive is to be calculated as the difference between the recognised tariff for the undertaking (determined by taking into account, on the one hand, the reference tariffs provided for each type of plant and intervention, by the applicable legislation, and, on the other hand, the downward reductions offered by the operator in the context of the auction or registration procedures, as well as the additional reductions generally provided for in the national rules) and the zonal hourly price, with the consequent obligation to repay the amounts exceeding the value of the recognised tariff when the zonal hourly price is higher than it (the so-called ‘negative incentive’)?

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¹     Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and amending and subsequently repealing Directives 2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC (OJ 2009 L 140, p. 16).

¹     Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (recast) (OJ 2018 L 328, p. 82).