The booming solar power market in Italy is expected to grow by nearly four times to 30 gigawatts (GW) of capacity by 2020. The prediction comes from the head of Italy’s top utility as a result of incentive-driven efforts to fight climate change.

Italy’s solar market, the world’s second largest after Germany, has rapidly grown since 2007 after the government boosted production subsidies, attracting the world leaders of photovoltaic modules.

“As of 30th June, we have already exceeded a national target set for 2020 of 8 GW,” Fulvio Conti, Chief Executive of Italy’s biggest utility, Enel, said. “Going ahead at the same pace, we can estimate that we can arrive at 30 GW in 2020.”

Helping to achieve this target, Japan’s Sharp Corporation, together with Enel’s renewable energy division, Enel Green Power (EGP), and STMicroelectronics, now own a new solar modules manufacturing plant near Catania, Sicily, which will produce thin film photovoltaic (PV) modules with a total of 160 megawatt (MW) capacity a year.

The production will start at the end of 2011 and the plant’s capacity is expected to rise up to 480 MW of modules a year by 2014. Total investment in the initial stage to bring the capacity to 160 MW amounted to €400 million.

“We can arrive even at 1000 MW a year (capacity) if the market absorbs it,” EGP Chief Executive Francesco Starace said.