A recipe for protecting tourism and ensuring sustainable development to the smaller islands Italian, Italians, saving tens of millions of euro, there is and can be implemented as of today: we need to abandon oil and focus on a mix of energy efficiency, solar and other renewables. The findings of the new report by Greenpeace “100% renewable: a new future for small islands”.
The smaller Italian islands – 20 tourist havens, including Lampedusa, Pantelleria, Favignana, Giglio, Tremiti – now they produce almost all of their energy with expensive and polluting diesel generators. A choice that Italian citizens pay bill with more than 60 million euro a year. As summarized in the report, thanks to energy efficiency and renewable these islands could instead abandon forever the oil, and meet its entire energy demand cleanly.
Italy, like other reality pointing in the dissemination of renewable (Germany, Denmark, Spain, California), will face the delicate transformation of the electricity grid into smart grid. The coming years will therefore be important in the development of management and technological solutions that, once experienced, will then have a spread worldwide. The small islands that start on a path of sustainable energy solutions are ideal environments to anticipate and perform experiments aimed at optimizing the choices. A laboratory, therefore, where validation options that can be taken on wider territorial scale and replicated in many areas of the world not connected to the power grid that will evolve toward building minigrids. The current situation sees a marginal presence in the use of renewable sources in the smaller Italian islands. The reasons for this situation, which contrasts with the rapid evolution that has occurred in the rest of the country, are different. It is estimated that in operation about 0.5 MW photovoltaic (a 1.2 MW plant is being installed in Lipari) and have turned some pilot projects.
For example, in this prison on ‘island of Gorgona were self-built by convicts 80 square meters of solar thermal collectors. At Ventotene, where there are four diesel generators of 600 kW each, and there are some photovoltaic plants, Enel has installed a storage system (Li-Ion 300 kW / 600 kWh) in order to optimize the electrical device, increasing network stability and reduce fuel consumption. In the smaller islands are virtually absent plants eolici.È also interesting to note that while the demand for electricity in Italy has grown on average by 0.3 per cent in the last 12 years, the average annual rate of our small islands amounted to 2.2 per cent. This difference is due in part to the uniqueness of the tourism-related consumption, but partly derives absolutely inefficient use of electricity (eg the production of hot water). The two main elements that have blocked the spread of renewable sources are represented by the particular reality of the producers, operating as a monopoly in the generation and distribution of electricity, to a greater complexity than the country in the management of the power system and the strict protection landscape by the authorities. Also always it lacked, and still lacks a clear direction from the central government that will push these islands towards renewables and efficiency, thus attracting investment and creating jobs.
In fact, l ‘ current regulatory framework of the electricity generation remuneration (reimbursement at the bottom of the list) and the lack of obligations on the slope efficiency and renewables have led to the lack of interest in direct intervention by local producers and a resistance to installation by other entities, both private and public. The reason given to justify this attitude of closure has always relied on the requirements of security in network management, but with today’s technology you can easily overcome this obstacle. The other element that has discouraged the spread of solar installations and prevented the construction of wind farms, although small, is related to the setting of the Superintendence for Cultural and Environmental Heritage that, with rare exceptions, are very reluctant to provide permissions necessary.
100% RENEWABLE: A NEW FUTURE FOR SMALL ISLANDS
In relation to the non-use of renewable energy is symptomatic of what is written on the website of the National Electricity Enterprises Minor (UNIEM), which still does not realize the direction now taken by many other islands in the world, and the risk of losing an important train to which are also linked to key areas such as tourism, “From the economic point of view, the absence of gas and coal in islands means that the diesel generators are the second best choice. When compared with renewable energy plants, photovoltaic and wind energy, the investment cost of diesel is three to ten times less. Costs that do not consider then the real potential for installing renewable energy plants caught between the constraints imposed by the Superintendency landscape, the topography of the area and the technical limitations of the network, with a maximum of 30% of the load capacity that can come from non-programmable renewable production ” . Another element to consider is the actual higher cost of generation related to diesel generators present in 13 islands not operated by Enel. That surcharge is downloaded on the bills of all Italian citizens through the component UC4, inserted in the charges of the electricity system, which in 2013 amounted to 70 million euro.
The remaining eight non-interconnected islands, controlled by Enel Production, not participating in integration mechanisms for the distribution and metering, while they are admitted to the system of reintegration of costs for the production estimated at 10 million € / a.
According UNIEM, the average cost incurred from the companies they are represented by the fuel to 55 percent. So the higher costs of generation in the smaller islands are not interconnected evaluable in 80 million € / a. A “treasure” to administer with intelligence, that should no longer be used as an aid to fossil fuels, but to facilitate the transition to renewable and efficient energy use. A step that, if managed in a virtuous way, allow the gradual reduction of this amount currently paid by all consumers. In fact, they are in an advanced stage of defining new rules that may allow you to start the transformation of energy islands. The first documents that have been circulating are still very shy, but already have stirred the waters. Unfortunately, the prevailing attitude of managers is still “defensive” and unable to understand the opportunities that may arise from the point of view of costs, as can be seen from the following statement of the President of UNIEM about the innovations that should lead to investment in sector efficiency and renewables: “Certainly the component UC4 increase for these investments in new capacity and for indirect costs related to the expansion of the network and any subsidies. It can not be that our companies protagonists of this process, since the notion of “scale” in the smaller islands makes it even more difficult question of the integration of renewable energy. Small Italian islands are a heritage of unquestionable beauty, history, landscape and culture, and should not become experimental laboratories “.
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