Pope Francis has ordered the construction of a solar power plant to supply the Vatican's electricity needs. ROME (AP) — Italy agreed Thursday to a Vatican plan to turn a 430-hectare (1,000-acre) field north of Rome, once the source of controversy between the two, into a vast solar farm that the Holy See hopes will generate enough electricity to meet its needs and turn Vatican City into the world's first. On July 31, at the historic Palazzo Borromeo, the Holy See and the Italian Republic signed a landmark agreement to build an agrivoltaic system in Santa Maria di Galeria. Photo: Vatican Media According to the Vatican's press office, the installation will apply the most advanced solutions currently. With the Apostolic Letter “Fratello sole,” issued motu proprio, Pope Francis provides for the construction of an agrivoltaic plant in the extraterritorial zone of Santa Maria in Galeria, where Vatican Radio maintains antennas for digital broadcasting. By Christopher Wells Highlighting the need “to. The installation of solar panels on Vatican-owned land to the north of the capital follows the photovoltaic glazing of the Cortile delle Corazze and the Vignaccia warehouse of the Vatican Museums (350 kilowatts peak for a total production of 500 megawatt hours) and the 5,000 square metre roof of. To model what this could look like, he announced that solar panels would be installed on a Vatican-owned property outside Rome, and the power generated from that could supply all of Vatican City's energy needs. The future installation would be projected to “ensure, not only the power supply of the. Vatican City is on track to become the 8 th country in the world to generate 100% of its electricity from renewable energy, following Pope Francis' announcement relating to building a large solar plant. In a letter to the church, the Pope said the project will be developed on Vatican-owned property.