Firenze
Italian start-up Enco – Energia Collettiva aims to quickstart energy communities (ECs) by taking away the barriers citizens often experience during a set-up. They deal with the potential red tape and take over the installation of smart meters, PV panels and storage systems, the practical set-up and registration of the EC as well as the management. Profits are used to pay back installation costs and are distributed fairly among the participants.
They came in contact with the RENAISSANCE team to see how their own mission and working method could be combined with the methodology that is developed within the H2020 project. As a test case one of their project sites was chosen: in Impruneta, a rural Tuscan town in the south of the Metropolitan City of Florence, an EC initiative would be set-up between neighbouring citizens. Three of them are prosumers with installed PV, and five are consumers.
Using the Renergise and MAMCA tools, calculations and an engagement process were set up to determine together with the citizens what an EC for Impruneta could look like, and what community options could gather the most support for implementation. Results from this case can teach important lessons on what the main points of attention are for citizens of rural southern towns on the added value engagement efforts can bring here.
