A 2022 equity crowdfunding campaign helped finance a portion of the Piedmont-based Trino solar power plant.
When operations begin, locals who have invested in the project will start to recover their money. This project allows local communities to directly benefit from energy infrastructures, demonstrating a new form of citizen participation in the field of renewable energy. Initiations of this kind have been started in Italy before. In fact, last year saw the opening of a new hydroelectric plant by Edison, a smaller Enel rival, which was also partially funded by the surrounding community and its broader customer base.
Impressive figures
160,000 photovoltaic panels now cover the Trino site, which was once home to a nuclear power plant that was shut down after a vote to ban atomic energy was taken in 1987. The plant will produce about 130 GWh annually, enough green energy to power about 47,000 households. A 25 MW battery storage system with a 100 MWh storage capacity is also installed at the plant. The location will soon see the installation of a second, larger storage system. These numbers are higher than those of the solar projects in Sicily by RWE.
Impact on the energy transition
Rooftop solar panel installation has been the mainstay of Italy’s energy transition up until recently. This small-scale approach has kept energy production costs high and slowed the country’s decarbonization process. In order to meet the nation’s carbon reduction targets, a major shift towards larger-scale facilities is represented by the Trino plant. Though there has been criticism of the project’s possible impact on Rome’s decarbonization goals, the project is being undertaken at a time when Italy’s right-wing coalition recently approved rules to limit the installation of solar panels on agricultural land. Overall, the Trino solar power plant, which combines technological innovation and community involvement to accelerate large-scale renewable energy production, represents a significant step forward in Italy’s energy transition.
