Wind turbines and solar panels in Sardinia's regulatory vacuum, the Regional Administrative Court (TAR) orders: "Restart projects blocked by the Region."

Three different plants, three similar rulings: the Regional Administrative Court (TAR) ruled that the Region blocked them based on a flawed law struck down by the Constitutional Court. The result: the approval process has now restarted. And eight wind turbines approximately 200 meters high and an 80,000-square-meter photovoltaic field risk entering the Sardinian regulatory vacuum .

In this affair, which involves Sassari and Luogosanto, the numbers aren't so important, as they may seem insignificant compared to other colossal projects looming over Sardinia. But the "how" of it all unfolded has the air of a reckoning and the certification of a failed attempt to manage the proliferation of wind turbines and solar panels.

Carbonera Wind Srl is proposing four wind turbines in Luogosanto. White and Blue Luighedda plans to install three in the Sassari municipal area. Meanwhile, the Campanedda hybrid plan (also in Sassari) calls for a wind turbine and a photovoltaic array combined.

Different companies and applications for permits shared the same fate: in all cases , the Region declared the approval process inadmissible , arguing that the projects involved areas declared "unsuitable" by Regional Law No. 20, approved in December 2024 by the Regional Council. This law was strongly supported by the Todde Administration to "govern a just transition."

The problem? A year later , the Constitutional Court, called upon by the government to challenge the law, ruled that the law violated the fundamental charter of the Republic. Among the reasons for its rejection was one in particular: declaring an area unsuitable doesn't mean no facility can be built there. At the very least, the project must follow a standard, not an accelerated, process.

The lawyers for the three companies in question (and all their colleagues who represent the interests of companies operating in the renewable energy sector) read the ruling and challenged the regional decisions denying the authorizations before the Regional Administrative Court .

The administrative court's rulings have arrived, and continue to arrive, in a flurry. And so, on the Environment Department's dedicated portal, proceedings that Villa Devoto considered resolved are being revived. "In compliance with the ruling of the Sardinian Regional Administrative Court, we hereby announce the resumption of the preliminary investigation for the issuance of the consolidated regional environmental provision," reads the shared opening line. The project's name follows. Three proceedings appeared just yesterday. But it seems like just the beginning: the paper dam of unsuitable areas has failed. Now we await the wave of blades and panels.