The Municipality of Porto Torres launched a project assigning resources to vulnerable citizens through a tender. Thanks to the resources of the fund (€ 8,000), the selected families have purchased small solar PV plants (<20 kW of installed capacity) and are experimenting with the advantages of self-consumption, while the municipality is restoring the fund by selling the surplus electricity produced to the grid.
The first action is the allocation of non-repayable public funding for the installation of photovoltaic in the most vulnerable households. The families can then start the activity of auto-consumption, while the energy that is not consumed is sold directly to the public grid and the revenues are paid into the revolving fund, which will be used to finance the installation of new photovoltaic systems. The families selected are also involved in capacity-building activities related to the responsible consumption of energy. This project is a good measure to combat energy poverty, helping vulnerable households to reduce energy bills by consuming electricity produced by on-site PV systems purchased thanks to the revolving fund created by the Municipality. The fund is fed through revenues from the sale of the surplus electricity injected into the grid. At the same time, the measure promotes the development of clean energy systems. The good results of the measure induced the Italian Government to replicate it at the national level.
With a budget of about 500,000 euros, the project achieved a discrete success in two years, causing the Italian government to apply the model in other regions (starting in Puglia) and finally rolling it out nationwide. In 2019, 50 PV systems have been installed in Porto Torres with a saving of 9,000 euros for vulnerable consumers in terms of energy bills and reducing CO2 emissions by 65 tonnes. In the first year of activity, the revolving fund received 6,000 euros from the sale of the surplus generated. The main challenge faced during the project is related to the estimation of energy produced and consumed by households that proved to be inaccurate (albeit less than expected).
The partners of the project are: the Municipality of Porto Torres, Gestore Servizi Energetici GSE S.p.a (energy company).
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Countries impacted:
Italy -
Geographical scale:
Regional and Local -
Energy poverty phase:
PlanningImplementation -
Intervention type:
Financial mechanismsRenewable Energy Integration -
Type of funding:
Local funds from the Municipality of Porto Torres -
Website:
Case website -
SDGs addressed:
