Daily guide · IT-SUD · 2026-09-13
What solar actually earned per MWh in Italy South this week
All numbers computed from the week's published auction results at publication and frozen — this article is an honest snapshot, not a page that rewrites itself. Reproduce via the API.
Solar in Italy South earned an average capture price of 190,83 EUR/MWh this week, against an average baseload of 213,82 EUR/MWh. That works out to a mean capture rate of 0,89, meaning solar collected roughly nine-tenths of the market's round-the-clock price. For a technology that typically sells into midday hours, that is a strong result and points to a week where high prices held through the solar window rather than collapsing under midday supply.
The standout is 10 September, when capture reached 221,44 EUR/MWh at a rate of 0,98 — solar was earning almost exactly baseload. The weakest day sits at the other end: 12 September, with capture of 141,50 EUR/MWh and a rate of 0,72, the only session where the discount widened noticeably. Notably, peak solar output stayed in a narrow 2,1 to 2,6 GW band all week, so the swing was driven by price shape, not by a flood of solar volume.
The takeaway: capture rates above 0,90 on most days show midday cannibalisation was limited here. Watch the 12 September pattern — that is what a weaker capture day looks like when demand or price support softens.
Solar has a pricing problem it created itself: every panel in IT-SUD produces at the same hours, so the more the fleet generates, the lower the price each MWh fetches. The number that captures this is the capture price — the generation-weighted price solar actually earned — and the capture rate, that price as a share of the plain average. Brochures quote the average; revenue arrives at the capture price. This week, measured on real generation and auction data:
190.83
€/MWh solar capture price this week (generation-weighted)
213.82
€/MWh baseload average — the number the brochure quotes
89%
capture rate — what solar keeps of the average price
Day by day
| Day | Capture €/MWh | Baseload €/MWh | Capture rate | Peak solar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-06 | 158.37 | 190.5 | 83% | 2.6 GW |
| 2026-09-07 | 202.48 | 220.48 | 92% | 2.6 GW |
| 2026-09-08 | 203.69 | 225.68 | 90% | 2.5 GW |
| 2026-09-09 | 207.89 | 220.41 | 94% | 2.5 GW |
| 2026-09-10 | 221.44 | 226.99 | 98% | 2.6 GW |
| 2026-09-11 | 200.42 | 217.12 | 92% | 2.1 GW |
| 2026-09-12 | 141.5 | 195.57 | 72% | 2.3 GW |
Capture = Σ(hourly price × solar MW) / Σ(solar MW), from realized generation (ENTSO-E A75) and published auction results. Sunny days push the rate DOWN — that's the cannibalization.
Why this number runs businesses
If you're valuing a PPA, sizing a solar+storage project, or hedging merchant exposure, the capture
rate — not the average price — is your revenue line. One week is weather noise; the trend is the
signal: GET /v1/capture/IT-SUD?technology=solar&months=24
returns two years of monthly capture prices and rates, and
POST /v1/ppa/value backcasts a pay-as-produced PPA at your strike.
Both are on the Scale tier (Pro gets a teaser);
battery owners can flip the same effect into revenue — see the
battery arbitrage guide for what the storage side earned this week.
Method & citation. Prices are hourly means of published day-ahead auction results (native 15-minute periods averaged; ENTSO-E/SMARD, attributed). Wholesale-price component only — grid fees and taxes come on top and vary by supplier. Cite as "Voltcast Research, voltcast.com/guides/solar-capture-it-sud-2026-09-13".
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