Blazing sun, fierce winds and land scarred by coal – Sardinia has all it needs to become the Mediterranean’s first 100% renewable island. Yet instead of turning this natural wealth into energy independence, the Italian region remains locked in dirty coal dependence, paralysed by political inertia and disinformation.
This opinion article was originally published in Qual’Energia.
Sardinia enjoys abundant sunshine, powerful winds both on land and at sea, and vast degraded land left behind by decades of coal exploitation – land that could host most of the island’s large-scale renewable projects to make the most of their priviledge natural resources.
These conditions would allow Sardinia to achieve energy self-sufficiency by producing abundant renewable electricity in a sustainable way, respecting both natural sites and local communities needs.
A recent study estimated that the island could run entirely on renewables as early as 2030, using just 0.4% of its agricultural land. The benefits are obvious: cheaper energy, new jobs, healthier air, and a modern economy no longer at the mercy of imported fossil fuels.
And yet Sardinia is still burning coal. The Italian government had promised a coal phase-out by 2025, but in Sardinia the deadline has already been pushed back to 2028.
What’s holding Sardinia back?
Despite such favourable conditions, renewable energy deployment on the island is lagging far behind the rest of Italy.
A part of the political establishment, backed by industrial lobbies and some trade unions, has been pushing to replace coal with imported fossil gas. While it is unlikely that large gas projects will be approved, this approach has already slowed renewable investment – thanks also to the combined support of the regional industry and the Sardinian branch of Italy’s largest trade union, the CGIL.
The media have played their part, amplifying these distractions: editorials warning against “energy colonialism” portray wind turbines and solar panels as a new form of exploitation. This rhetoric taps into Sardinian independence sentiments but is deeply misleading. The reality is simple: connections to the national grid are limited (1.3 GW through the SAPEI and SACOI interconnectors). This means that most of the renewable energy produced on the island will stay on the island, powering Sardinian homes, businesses and industries.
Far from draining wealth, renewables are the key to creating it. Yet media pressure seems to be working: in 2024, regional president Alessandra Todde introduced an 18-month moratorium on renewables, followed by a regional law that effectively bans new projects on 99% of Sardinian territory.
Opposition also comes from farmers, environmental groups and parts of the tourism sector, concerned about land use, landscapes and biodiversity. But here too, debate has often been distorted. Disinformation and alarmism have fuelled tensions, sometimes escalating into sabotage, with renewable projects set on fire or vandalised.
Yet across Europe there are countless examples of how NIMBY (“Not In My Back Yard”) opposition can be overcome: through careful planning, genuine public participation and smart site selection, renewable development can be aligned with community needs and ecosystem protection.
How can Sardinia break the deadlock?
First, the region needs smarter, more nuanced legislation. A new regional law, aligned with the EU Renewable Energy Directive, should replace today’s blunt “yes or no” approach with a tiered system for renewable acceleration areas: the more sensitive the site, the stricter the technical requirements for approval.
This would prioritise brownfield and industrial sites, without automatically excluding renewables from more natural landscapes – where stricter conditions such as habitat restoration or ecological corridors could be applied.
Second, Sardinia needs a long-term, shared vision. Today’s debate is stuck in short-term battles over individual projects. A regional-scale plan looking ahead to 2040 -covering land needs, energy demand, renewable potential and new interconnections- could provide common ground and guide political choices beyond party divides.
Third, municipalities should seize the chance to shape their own energy future. The new law allows local councils to designate suitable areas for solar and wind projects even outside the officially defined zones, provided there is a qualified council majority and community backing. This is a golden opportunity: Sardinian municipalities can attract investment while setting their own priorities, from job creation to nature protection to local revenues.
By focusing on these three elements, Sardinia could become a clean energy success story -showing the rest of Europe how to balance renewable development, environmental protection and social cohesion. The transition could boost public revenues and services while creating jobs.
But if inertia prevails and renewables are not deployed fast enough, Sardinia risks remaining trapped in fossil fuel dependence, to the benefit of the same industrial giants and speculators that many renewable opponents claim to fight.
Sardinia stands at a crossroads. It can embrace its potential and become one of Europe’s first large islands powered entirely by renewables – a story of prosperity, resilience and autonomy. Or it can remain stuck in fossil dependence, serving the same large industrial groups and speculators that many opponents of renewables claim to be fighting against.
The choice is not just about energy. It is about the future Sardinia wants for its people.