The facilitator of the project is Fotovoltaica Srl, a leading company in the sector, which has already started the Amendolara energy community
The small municipality of Calopezzati, just under 1,500 inhabitants in the province of Cosenza, is strongly aiming for an ecological turning point with the project “Let’s put our energies together”, which will lead to the birth of an energy community. “The objective is twofold: on the one hand we want to protect the environment, focusing on solar energy, therefore clean, on the other there are considerable economic and social advantages with direct impact on the entire territory of Calopezzati and the surrounding municipalities , since, once fully operational, energy costs will be almost zero” explains the mayor Edoardo Antonello Giudiceandreaunderlining that the wait will be short: “We are on the home stretch for the establishment of the energy community”.
After the publication of the ministerial decrees and the operating rules of the GSE, the experimental phase has been overcome and projects of this type can finally take hold, widening the territorial boundaries. Moreover, Giudiceandrea specifies, creating “an energy community implies a notable involvement of citizens, who can have an active role in the development of CER as producers, investing in the construction of renewable source systems, as simple consumers (Consumers ), helping to increase the sharing of energy produced by the plants within the CER, and as producer-consumers (Prosumers) who, in addition to benefiting from the capital contributions provided for by the Pnrr, can enjoy the advantages deriving from physical self-consumption ”.
To give substance to projects of this type, which are far from simple, both from a technical and economic management point of view, the contribution of specific skills offered by companies specialized in the sector is necessary. The Municipality of Calopezzati, for example, through a public tender entrusted the role of facilitator to the company Fotovoltaica Srl, a company active in the solar energy sector for almost 40 years, which contributed to the creation of one of the first Italian energy communities, Cenergam of Amendolara, also in the province of Cosenza, established in 2021.
“We make our technical and management knowledge available to the Administration and citizens” says the engineer Cataldo Romeo, CEO of the company he founded together with his brother Giovanni and which today employs several professionals, most of whom are engineers. “The ultimate aim is to self-produce energy in one’s own territory, in order to be independent also from foreign supplies. A significant advantage considering, for example, the additional costs incurred by families after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine” adds the entrepreneur, who is also responsible for the development of the project from an economic point of view: “We are working to ensure that the citizens of Calopezzati and neighboring towns can become part of the energy community without having to incur expenses, but with the opportunity to save 50% on the energy consumed. And, if they decide to redeem their system, they will have an even greater profit thanks to the sale of energy”.
