In brief
- Monitoring compares actual impacts with those forecast in the environmental study and makes it possible to correct course.
- It has three phases: ante operam, during construction and post operam.
- The ante operam phase can't be recovered: if it starts late, there is no baseline for comparison.
Commissioning closes the construction site, not the environmental commitments. The environmental impact assessment decision can set conditions and monitoring activities that the applicant must carry out and document (art. 28 of Legislative Decree 152/2006). The detailed programme is the Environmental Monitoring Plan.
The three phases
| Phase | When | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Ante operam | Before construction | Captures the starting condition of each component |
| During construction | During construction | Checks temporary effects and allows quick action |
| Post operam | After the construction site is dismantled | Checks the effects with the plant running |
Many plans adopt a BACI (Before-After-Control-Impact) approach: comparing before and after, and the plant area with a control area. This separates the effect of the works from natural variations.
What is measured
- Wind power: birds and bats first of all, as well as noise. A widely cited methodological reference is the protocol of the National Observatory on Wind Power and Wildlife (ISPRA, ANEV, Legambiente).
- Solar PV: soil, vegetation, landscape integration, effectiveness of mitigation works.
- Agrivoltaics: also continuity of farming and water saving, which the ministerial guidelines link to the plant's requirements.
The duration depends on the requirements: for wildlife, in wind power, campaigns of two or three years in operation are common.
The mistakes that cost the most
- Starting late. Migratory birds pass in specific seasons: missing one can delay construction by months.
- Changing method between phases. Different survey points and techniques make the data impossible to compare.
- Leaving it out of the budget. Monitoring lasts for years and must be in the financial plan from the start.
- Collecting data without reporting it. Clear, timely reports make dealings with the supervisory authorities easier.
Set up well, monitoring also produces knowledge of the site that is useful for running the plant and for later projects in the same area.
