Vatican And Italy To Build Solar Farm For Clean Energy

In a significant move merging faith with climate action, Italy and the Vatican have agreed to turn a 430-hectare (1,000-acre) site at Santa Maria Galeria, just north of Rome, into a large solar farm. This project aims to make the Vatican the world’s first carbon-neutral state. Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s foreign minister, and Italy’s ambassador to the Holy See, Francesco Di Nitto, signed the agreement. This marks an important step in the Vatican’s shift towards clean energy and Italy’s effort to meet European Union climate targets.

The Vatican plans to produce enough electricity from the Santa Maria Galeria solar farm to meet its internal power needs. Any extra electricity will be provided to nearby communities. In line with Pope Francis’s environmental focus, Pope Leo XIV, his successor, supports this initiative and has committed to continuing Francis’s mission of sustainability. The solar farm will also prioritize agricultural use of the land and aim to reduce environmental disruption.

The project is expected to cost less than €100 million ($114 million), with funding and development details to be finalized after parliamentary approval in Italy. Since the agreement involves a foreign entity and the site has extraterritorial status, it requires formal approval from the Italian legislature. Once approved, contracts will be awarded to start construction of the solar facility.

While many details about the agreement are private, officials confirmed that the Vatican will not have to pay Italian import taxes on solar panels. However, it will not receive the same financial incentives available to Italian citizens installing solar systems. Italy will benefit by counting the solar output from the farm towards its EU-mandated renewable energy goals, creating a mutual advantage.

The Santa Maria Galeria site has a long and controversial history. Since the 1950s, it has hosted various short- and medium-wave radio towers used by Vatican Radio to broadcast messages in many languages around the world. The rural area surrounding the site has become more populated over time. Residents have expressed concerns about potential health impacts from electromagnetic radiation emitted by the towers. Claims of increased childhood leukemia and other illnesses led to intense public debate and legal disputes.

In the 1990s, some residents sued Vatican Radio, alleging that the emissions exceeded Italian legal limits. Ultimately, the court found the transmitter was not at fault. However, in 2012, the Vatican announced it would cut back on transmission hours—not due to health concerns, it claimed, but to adopt more modern and cost-effective internet-based broadcasting. The site remained controversial.

Pope Francis, a strong advocate for climate justice and ecological reform, requested a study last year on transforming the radio site into a solar energy hub. His efforts to shift the Vatican towards renewable energy align with his broader environmental teachings, such as the encyclical Laudato Si’, which stresses the moral obligation to care for the planet. His successor, Pope Leo XIV, who visited Santa Maria Galeria in June, is continuing this ecological campaign and has reaffirmed his commitment to making the site a symbol of sustainability. Leo has even added new prayers and liturgical readings inspired by Francis’s environmental advocacy.

If the solar farm is completed as planned, Vatican City will be the first state in the world to rely entirely on renewable energy. While the Holy See is small and mostly urban, this project could serve as a meaningful and practical example for integrating renewable energy into governmental operations, especially for globally influential institutions like the Catholic Church.

This agreement is more than a clean energy initiative; it represents a rare diplomatic partnership between church and state on climate action. It combines the Vatican’s spiritual influence with Italy’s political commitment to environmental progress, highlighting the urgent need to cut carbon emissions. For a site once filled with controversy, Santa Maria Galeria is set to become a strong symbol of change, resilience, and environmental responsibility.