Can sunny Sicily become a clean energy hub for Europe? Some residents need convincing
The island's governor threatened to stop approving new solar plants until Sicily receives some special benefits.
When Salvatore Cerrito heard the Sicilian governor Renato Schifani vowing to stop new solar panels being installed, he was speechless.
“Our agricultural fields are ravaged by the panels, so we pay a price. Does this activity produce any job opportunity? No: once installed, it is managed at distance. Do they produce energy? No, because it goes to the central state,” Schifani was quoted saying by the news agency Italpress last month.
Cerrito is in charge of the East Palermo energy community on the island, an association of citizens, private business and public bodies producing renewable energy.
In his famous novel Il Gattopardo, Italian writer Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa describes a society in which an omnipresent sun weighs over the decisions of human beings. “The sun showed itself to be the true ruler of Sicily,” Tomasi wrote.
With some reason: three out of ten of the sunniest cities in Europe are located on the island, with Palermo enjoying an average of 340 sunny hours per month.
When Von Der Leyen said that Sicily can become a clean energy hub for Europe, she was not joking.
“This is a great opportunity. And it’s free,” Cerrito tells Euronews Green. “When [EU Commission president] Von Der Leyen said that Sicily can become a clean energy hub for Europe, she was not joking.”
After Italy enabled electricity to be shared and sold through the national grid in 2021, Cerrito and his engineering studio StarPower Health & Contract decided to create an energy community. They opened a call for expressions of interest for building a solar field on the outskirts of Palermo.
Hundreds of demonstrations of interest came back - especially from small businesses such as bars, chemistries, hotels, and from a couple of public museums plagued by abnormal electricity bills.
With 500 members, East Palermo is set to become the largest energy community in the whole island. Their first 850 KWh solar system was built in Brancaccio, an old industrial area in the outskirts of Palermo.
Cerrito was not the only one caught off guard by Schifani’s statement. Trade unions and political opponents protested vocally. They saw solar technology as a chance for a region plagued by scarce economic opportunities to play a key role in the European energy transition.
Despite that, other regional governors followed suit and backed Schifani’s requests a few days later.
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