Milan, the time of “SOLEdarietà”, the community with a fund created for families in energy poverty

MILANO – The Renewable and Solidarity Energy Community is Born “SOLEdarity”: is made up of Caritas Ambrosiana and from the parishes of Santa Maria Goretti and San Martino in Greco. The new Cersthat is one of the first renewable and solidarity energy communities in the city of Milan, was promoted by Energy Bank Foundation (philanthropic organization that has among its objectives that of supporting projects related to the efficiency of buildings Third Sector to promote energy saving) thanks to the donation and technical support of Edison (the oldest energy company in Europe, with 140 years of history, and one of the leading operators in the sector in Italy).

Energy is produced and exchanged. The three partners will produce and exchange energy, manage the economic benefits of the operation and develop educational and social actions in the area. The project will thus contribute to the ecological transition in a metropolitan suburb, to environmental protection and to the containment of global warming, will combat energy poverty1, strengthening and innovating community ties.

On the roofs of the Refettorio Ambrosiano. Among the members of the new Cerstwo will be producers and self-consumers (Caritas and Goretti), while other entities will be exclusively energy consumers (two Caritas services in the Greco neighborhood, namely the Rifugio di via Sammartini and the “Bassanini – La Piazzetta” day center, and the parish of San Martino). The photovoltaic systems, donated by Edison Energia, a company of the Edison Group, for a total value of 270 thousand euros and located on the roofs of the Ambrosian Refectory, in Piazza Greco, and the church and parish house of Santa Maria Goretti, in Via Melchiorre Gioia, have a power of approximately 100 kWp2 and it has been estimated that they will produce 107 MWh of energy, while the energy consumed will be approximately 330 MWh.

Three types of economic benefits. The production of renewable energy and the dynamics of consumption and injection into the national grid will allow us to achieve three types of economic advantages:

1) – an effective saving on bills by prosumers, Refettorio and Goretti, thanks to self-consumption (calculated at over 6,700 euros per year);

2) – incentives for the sale of non-self-consumed energy on the grid (over 6,900 euros per year);

3) – incentives for energy used by consumer at the same time as the energy produced by the plants is fed into the grid prosumer and not self-consumed by them (over 9,700 euros per year).

The fund intended for the poorest. Cers’ revenues, after deducting management and administrative expenses, are estimated to amount to approximately 13 thousand euros per year; Cer it will thus be able to set up a fund that will be allocated to people in energy poverty followed by the Caritas Listening Centers of the two parishes (also thanks to the figures of the Ted, Domestic Energy Tutors) and will allow to reduce the bills of the Caritas and parish services, which in the last two years have seen their costs increase significantly.

Solidarity energy communities. SOLEdarity is one of the Cers created as part of “Solidarity Energy Communities”, a high social impact initiative born from the collaboration between Banco dell’energia and Edison, aimed at combating energy poverty and supporting families in conditions of social vulnerability through the donation of production plants from renewable sources. Overall, Edison Energia, a company of the Edison Group, has donated one million euros in plants and installation of photovoltaic panels to support the project in various parts of Italy.

The “network inclusion” project. The collaboration between Caritas Ambrosiana, Banco dell’Energia, Edison and the parishes of Greco will continue with the development of the project “Inclusione in rete”, which will start in the coming months. The initiative has the threefold objective of reducing energy consumption within the buildings that are part of the CERs Caritas of Greco, increasing the awareness of users regarding how to reduce consumption through more efficient use and maintenance of systems and appliances, and finally supporting people in energy poverty in replacing or purchasing appliances.

The study on social benefits. As part of the new project, the parish of Santa Maria Goretti and Caritas Ambrosiana are expected to build for Edison and Energy bank a study on the social, economic and environmental benefits achieved thanks to the establishment of Cers. This will provide a useful knowledge base to further contribute to the program to combat energy poverty in Italy.

2 million families in energy poverty. Second Oipe – Italian Observatory on Energy Povertyconcerns 7.7% of Italian families, i.e. approximately 2 million households (2022 data), and 5.3% of Lombard families, while many other families are at risk of sliding towards energy vulnerability. Interest in the topic, in our country, is quite widespread: according to Ipsos, the concept of energy poverty is known to 66% of Italians, while approximately 6% confirm a high level of familiarity. The interest in joining a CER, again according to Ipsos data, concerns approximately 58% of Italians.

Who attended the event. At the event that took place at Refectory Elena Eva Maria Grandi (Councillor for the Environment and Greenery of the Municipality of Milan), Simone Locatelli (President of Municipio 2 of the Municipality of Milan), Paolo Arrigoni (President of GSE), Laura Colombo (Secretary General of the Energy Bank), Massimo Quaglini (CEO of Edison Energia), Luciano Gualzetti (Director of Caritas Ambrosiana) and Don Giuseppe La Rosa (Parish Priest of San Martino in Greco and Santa Maria Goretti) took part.

The Energy Bank Foundation. It is a non-profit organization that aims to raise funds to support, through the mechanism of indirect solidarity, people and families in situations of economic and social vulnerability, paying particular attention to the issue of energy poverty. Since 2016 Energy bank has raised and donated over 12 million euros and helped more than 13,000 families, operating through interventions to support people in difficulty and training and awareness initiatives to increase culture and awareness of consumption and energy efficiency. They are part of the Board from the Energy Bank Foundationin addition to the Founding Members A2A and its Foundations AEM, ASM and LGH, also Edison, Eni Plenitude and Iren.

Edison is the oldest energy company in Europe. With over 140 years of life and one of the leading operators in the sector in Italy, with activities in the procurement, production and sale of electricity and natural gas and in energy and environmental services. The company is at the forefront of the challenge of the energy transition, through the development of renewable and low-carbon generation, energy and environmental services and sustainable mobility. Edison has a highly flexible and efficient electricity production fleet, consisting of 200 power plants including hydroelectric, wind, solar and high-efficiency combined cycle gas-fired thermoelectric plants. The Group’s total installed net power is 7 GW. Today it operates in Italy and Europe, employing over 5,500 people.Iren.