EnGreen recently launched the Val.Zer. ( Valley at Zero Emission) Project, a renewable energy community (REC) located in the small town of Notaresco, Teramo in central Italy.
The starting point was the establishment of a citizen association, which currently involves ten households; 5 of these are prosumers generating clean energy for self-consumption and sharing the surplus with the rest of the members. From the current capacity of 32 kW of PV and 75 kWh of lithium storage, the aim is to grow up to 20/30 users , covering the majority of electricity needs by 2022. The REC in Vallevignale is a real case study allowing EnGreen to adapt models and technologies successfully used in rural electrification in developing countries, and to build specific know-how on the potential for energy flexibility and communication protocols to manage internal and external transactions.
In phase 2, a district heating system is foreseen, powered by a biomass CH&P engine, to meet thermal needs of the entire community and eventually lead the settlement to fullfill the total energy demand thanks to local renewable sources.