Renewable Energy Community - Castello Green House - Cooperative Society
About this good practice
Due to the increased awareness on energy issues within its members, also caused by higher energy costs, the housing cooperative “Castello” launched an activity program linked to the energy transition in collaboration with the Municipality local authority. The "Renewable Energy Community - Castello Green House - Cooperative Society” project is part of this program and in line with the local policies. In housing cooperatives with indivisible ownership, like Castello, the buildings remain the property of the cooperative and the house is assigned to the member, with a controlled fee compared to the market. The increased energy costs in the latest years caused a strong interest in addressing energy within the cooperative’s activities and by local policies.
CGH operates to the benefit of its members, i.e. citizens and voluntary associations. The premium tariff to be received by the established REC will be shared among the different categories of members (final consumers, energy producers,producers with self-consumption) according to these principles: prioritizing the advantage for the members on the share reserved for the REC; using the portion of the incentive for social initiatives and educational actions aimed at raising awareness on sustainability. Besides investments in PV systems, REC project also includes energy efficiency investments (e.g. roof insulation, high-emission reflective paints, replacement of fixtures) on its properties in order to decrease the energy demand.
Resources needed
The contribution of about 49 k€ from the Emilia-Romagna Region within the 2023 Call for support for the development of RECs covered the feasibility study leading to the establishment of the REC in 2024. REC is operated by the Castello Cooperative staff and the volunteer work of the members.
Evidence of success
The characteristics of the REC and its program of activities have allowed it to be selected as the first pilot within the Citizen Led Renovation Program, a European supporting the establishment of bottom-up RECs that combine renewable energy production and use with energy efficiency (building renovation). Currently the REC has 43 members, with 462 kW peak PV plants installed, and includes four energy sharing configurations, two within the city of Ferrara and two in the Ferrara Province.
Potential for learning or transfer
CGH initiative has a high potential for replicability. The elements of the initiative supporting replicability are:
• The cooperative organizational model, which promotes not only the democratic and sustainable use of resources, but also the principles of solidarity and collective responsibility; in a REC coop, in fact, every member has an equal voice, the decision-making process is inclusive and representative of the needs of all participants.
• The methods of intervention, with an integrated focus on the PV plants installation for the production of energy from renewable energy sources to be self-consumed and shared, but also on the energy efficiency of buildings, to reduce their energy needs (to be met by RES) by means of building renovation.
• The aim is to raise citizens’ awareness on the issues of energy transition can be exported in other contexts by local authorities and improve local policies in addresseing the energy policies applying the same model of CGH
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