Press Release: State aid: European Commission finds against planned regional subsidy to Italian energy company Fri-el Acerra

After a careful investigation, the European Commission has concluded that a €19.5 million regional investment aid that Italy intended to grant towards the takeover and conversion, by Fri-el Acerra S.r.l, of a closed thermoelectric power plant into a power plant fuelled by bioliquids is not compatible with EU state aid rules. This is because the project in Acerra, in the Italian southern region of Campania, was launched well before the aid was granted, showing that the financial incentive was not necessary to attract the investment. The size of the regional aid itself did not appear commensurate with the benefits for the region. It should be noted that as the aid has not yet been paid out, this decision does not give rise to recovery.