The dream of a green island is becoming reality

A project to try to realize the dream of an island that wants to live thanks and exclusively to clean energy. For many it is an impossible dream but there are those who, in Carloforte, have decided to try to turn it into reality. A green reality that is slowly taking shape.

In fact, San Pietro is one of the three islands participating in the React Project together with the island of Aran (Ireland) and the island of La Graciosa (Spain). Three pilot sites where the experimentation, launched this year, will be used to design new models of energy consumption - the municipal administration led by Tore Puggioni explains in a note - will then be implemented and evaluated in larger islands such as Mallorca (Spain), Gotland (Sweden), Lesbos (Greece), the Isle of Wight (England) and Reunion (France).

The React project will last four years and involves 23 partners from 11 European countries coordinated by Veolia. The Italian partners are led by R2M Solutions and R2M Energy and include the Municipality of Carloforte, Midac, Mitsubishi Electric R&D Center Europe (Merce-Uk) and Mitsubishi Electric Europe-Italian branch. Funded by the Horizon 2020 program of the European Union, the project aims to increase energy security and improve the energy and environmental sustainability of the islands.

Last June, in Carloforte, the operational phase of the experiment started: the first thirteen energy storage systems were installed and put into service, with a total power of 126 kWh. “This is the first step towards the full implementation of the project on the island of San Pietro - reads the note - which will now be completed with the installation of additional batteries and heat pumps in various public and residential buildings.

The installed systems are mainly composed of heat pumps that provide both heating and cooling, coupled to batteries that store the energy produced from renewable sources, allowing to shift the peaks of energy consumption and at the same time allowing greater flexibility. The installation of these technologies will contribute to the formation of a renewable energy community, bringing a reduction in the cost of electricity for community members, increasing the amount of self-consuming energy and bringing the island closer to energy independence from the mainland.

In June, the Councilor for Public Works of the Municipality of Carloforte, Stefano Rombi, explained that the choice of the buildings on which to start had taken place following an expression of interest. Private individuals willing to participate in the project had been sought. In all thirty buildings, including private homes and hotels, had joined the idea by adding to the public buildings already included in the pilot project. “With these tools, the excess energy produced by photovoltaic systems during sunny days can be accumulated and used even on less sunny days. We are satisfied with the great participation. - explained Rombi - given the concrete effects of the project in the daily life of those who initially joined, there was then a driving force for further membership in the community ". Memberships that may increase further.

The installation, according to the note from the Municipality - is accompanied by an energy management platform that will allow each user to know their energy consumption habits and improve their energy efficiency in a simple and interactive way.

To create a contact point between the islanders and the project, an open group was created in the Facebook social network (to get there the address is https://www.facebook.com/SanPietroREACT/) which will allow the inhabitants (and not only ) to ask questions, share information, access content on how to save energy and find out the latest news on the project. Through active participation, the community of San Pietro will have at its disposal the knowledge and tools necessary to become an energetically independent island ”.