The virtuous revolution of the energy community of Melpignano: “In cooperative to save on sun and water”
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Mr Gino Palma opens the door of the large terrace of his house and points to the expanse of photovoltaic panels: “Here – he says – with these for over ten years my bill almost never reaches triple digits, the average is around eighty euros. Not bad, given the current crisis “. He and his family are among the 171 members of the Energy community Melpignano, founded in 2011 by the community cooperative of the same name. Here, in the heart of the Salento, just before the terrible invasion of xylella which led to the death of millions of olive trees, in the “capital” of the Taranta Night, a group of citizens united in the search for sustainable solutions together with the mayor of the time had an idea: “Con il sole that we have and the many terraces used only for laying, why not create an energy community? ” tells Gianluca Grecotoday president of the Melpignano Community Cooperative.
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The aim, like all others to come, was to find a solution that could help the environment and citizens, start a “virtuous revolution”. So in the small village of 2200 inhabitantswith the collaboration ofUniversity of Salento and of Creative workshopsbegan a study to understand the feasibility of self-production of energy: after receiving over 170 requests, about thirty houses were found to be suitable for the installation of the panels.
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“All the cooperative members had to do was pay a dues 25 euro for registration to the cooperative who would have taken care of the plants: the extra energy produced would then be used to repay the investment and perhaps to provide possible profits “explains Greco. To date in the land of” lu sole e lu viento “the families of Melpignano arrive to 157 kW of nominal powerwith a production of 212 thousand kWh per year. The cooperative provides maintenance and the only rule they have given themselves is that the “panels are not visible from the ground”, so as to do not impact the landscape. After 20 yearsthe plants will become the property of the families but in the meantime thethe extra energy produced is destined for the community.
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Having started with what is “one of the first energy communities in Puglia” over ten years ago, “we have not yet developed energy sharing projects such as those of communities born from 2020 onwards, but we limit ourselves to self-production and self-consumptioneven if one day together with the partners we will think about how to adapt to change “, explains Greco, proud of the fact that the community of Melpignano allows us to” avoid entering 150 thousand tons of CO2 per year“and that thanks to their initiative” other people, perhaps privately, have begun to take an interest in photovoltaic“.
For many, as the Palma family tells us, “photovoltaics installed with the help of local engineers and electricians, also creating employment, was an important response to the crisis. Here there are people who have also been hit hard by the xylella that has impacted. on oil production, for example. On the roof of our house we have a 4.8 kW system that has hardly led to bimonthly bills of more than 100 euros in all these years despite our being a fairly large house, with many appliances switched on and three refrigerators where we always keep the products of our fields “. Without panels, with the same consumption, “some families, due to the crisis, are able to pay here today bills of up to 700 euros. I would say that the savings are evident “, adds Greco.
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But the real benefit that the creation of the energy community has triggered is “showing how we can come together for the good of all”. A concrete asset: thanks to the development of the energy community, the cooperative has grown and launched the project “water houses”public water at five cents for all (an initiative now extended to 59 “houses” throughout the province of Lecce), has brought free textbooks to schools, paid the canteen to families in difficulty, redeveloped a city park and even promoted a community “apiary” to share honey and learn the art of cooperating together.
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