October 19, 2022 was a historic day for the people of Villanovaforru and Ussaramanna in Sardinia.
It marks the beginning of the production of their own electricity thanks to photovoltaic power plants installed by the Enostra cooperative.
“The inhabitants are convinced that locally self-produced energy with renewable sources must replace that produced with fossil fuels.
In Sardinia, independence will also be energy,”
explains Sara Capuzzo, president of the cooperative which, like Énergie Partagée or Energ'Y Citoyenne in France, helps residents, businesses and municipalities to produce their own green energy.
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The Sardinian soil is particularly fertile: according to WWF Italia, 94% of the population is convinced of renewable energies.
The Italian Island of Beauty wishes to achieve energy independence by 2040, following in the footsteps of the Danish island Samso, the first island in the world to have reached this Grail.
But, with 1.6 million inhabitants versus 4,000 for Samso, the task is more difficult.
Enel, which already operates two wind farms on this neighboring island of Corsica as well as a hydroelectric power station, estimates the investments at 15 billion euros by 2030. For the electrician, the autonomous region can become “
the perfect example of a sustainable model in terms of energy and tourism.
Natural resources - wind, water and sun - are available in abundance here, making it possible to efficiently produce large amounts of green energy.”
"Go further"
Italy, the fourth largest consumer of European energy, is one step ahead in terms of renewable energies: thanks to dams in particular, their share is 36%, versus 19% in France and 22% on average in Europe.
In terms of sobriety too, the Italians perform better, as consumption per capita is 20% lower than the European average.
“
But we have to go further: encouraging the production of renewable energy and local self-consumption not only reduces our energy bill, by more than a third currently in our country, but also raises awareness of the rational use of energy and to revitalize the economy and local communities"
, emphasizes Sara Capuzzo.
A maxim that applies in Sardinia as elsewhere.
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