Il progetto “Foster social acceptance of RES by stakeholder engagement” – REScoop 20-20-20 che Avanzi. Sostenibilità Per Azioni ha presentato all’Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) call for proposals 2011 è stato valutato positivamente dall’EACI e riceverà un finanziamento europeo.

Per noi rappresenta un’occasione importante per dare il via all’attività di promozione e sviluppo di impianti comunitari per la produzione di energia da fonti rinnovabili. Grazie a questo progetto, Avanzi sarà al centro di un network nazionale ed europeo (European Federation of Groups and Cooperatives of Citizens for Renewable Energy) di cui faranno parte organizzazioni attive nella cooperazione per la produzione da fonti rinnovabili che hanno già sviluppato centinai di impianti nel nord europa (Ecopower, Energy4All, Enercoop, ODE Nederland, EWS, ALIenergy, Middelgrunden,…)

Il progetto intende favorire l’accettabilità delle rinnovabili, per raggiungere il target EU del 20% di FER al 2020, proponendo un modello innovativo basato sullo stakeholder engagement e sulla partecipazione diretta della comunità all’investimento (azionariato popolare).

Avanzi coordinerà l’attività di implementazione del modello in 12 progetti pilota europei, tre dei quali verranno sviluppati in Italia. Pe riuscire in questa impresa, lavoreremo in stretto contatto con le esperienze già presenti sul territorio ma soprattutto con il mondo delle cooperative, rappresentato nel progetto da Confcooperative.

Abstract

The REScoop 20-20-20 proposal addresses the 2011 priority 10.2.1 of ALTENER — Electricity from renewable energy sources (RES-e). Specifically, by increasing the social acceptance of new RES installations, this project will contribute to the implementation of the RES Directive priorities for 2020 and beyond. The sharing of best practice of cooperative citizen-led RES-projects across the EU has proven its potential to streamline construction and licensing procedures for new RES-e generators, as well as reducing other market barriers. Training, exchanges of information and coordination between stakeholders at national and international levels will be fostered in this project. Social acceptance of future renewable electricity-generating is the key to minimize delays in authorizations, to encourage investment and to achieve the EU 2020 commitments.

The REScoop 20-20-20 project therefore helps to improve social acceptance of RES-e generation with its proven model of local cooperative citizen involvement. It will share best practice in the form of a toolbox covering all phases, from the initial planning and siting of new installations, the do´s and don‘ts to secure local buy in, to the implementation and management of RES plants. By reducing delays in authorizations and at the same time providing proven formats to secure (local!) financing for RES-projects, the cooperative approach has proven its efficacy all over Europe in the past decades. The recently founded European Federation of Groups and Cooperatives of Citizens for Renewable Energy (REScoop.eu) will disseminate this model actively, fine-tuned to each market‘s specific issues.

The two specific project objectives are:

1. To speed up the creation of RES-projects and related cooperatives in various Member States.
2. To further expand Cooperative RES-projects by sharing best practice in a comprehensive and continuously expanded and updated toolbox, while also actively lobbying for more favorable regulation at national and EU level.

Key outputs of the action are:

• Define and share best practice to create new citizens RES-projects: different business models, checklists, template contracts, financing and investment schemes.
• Create 12 new RES-coops and projects, applying best practice and leveraging the network
• Support emerging cooperative RES-projects with a toolbox that integrates the learning of the more than 400 existing RES-cooperatives.
• Deliver recommendations to EU and national Governments on fiscal, legal and authorisation policies to increase the success rate of RES-e projects.
• Main outcomes within the duration of the project are:
• Setting-up of 12 new RES plants corresponding to at least 24 MW (average of 2MW per plant) established thanks to the action support.
• Direct involvement of at least 6000 shareholders that leads to 5% reduction in their electricity consumption.
• Secure financial support to new RES initiatives collecting commitments for 100 mil € all over Europe.
• Contribute to the achievement of EU 20-20-20 target supporting citizens RES-projects all over the EU through a free access toolbox (2400 users/downloads of the toolbox) and customized investment schemes (at least 12 applications within the project).