Vatican to be fully powered by solar energy in future, Pope Francis reveals

The Vatican is to be supplied entirely with solar power in future after Pope Francis ordered the construction of agrivoltaic plant on a site north of Rome that is controlled by the Vatican.

The plant in Santa Maria di Galeria is intended to supply not only the Vatican Radio broadcasting centre there with electricity but also the entire Vatican.

The pope wrote in a letter entitled “Brother Sun’’ dated Wednesday.

“There must be a transition towards a sustainable development model that reduces the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, to achieve climate neutrality,’’ a letter signed by Francis indicated.

Humanity has the technological means to manage this ecological change and its harmful social, economic, and political consequences: Solar energy has a key role in this, he added.

With the construction of the plant, the pope set to contribute to the efforts of all states to find an appropriate response to climate change by their respective responsibilities and capabilities.

It initially remained unclear when exactly the agrivoltaic system in Santa Maria di Galeria would be installed and go into operation.

Pope Francis attaches great importance to environmental protection.

In the spirit of his environmental encyclical “Laudato Si (Praised Be) from 2015 and his apostolic letter Laudate Deum’’ (Praise God) from 2023, the Vatican wants to become climate neutral.

Last year, for example, Francis decided to completely replace the Vatican’s vehicle fleet with electric cars by 2030.