Urban Renewable Energy Communities and Energy Poverty: a proactive approach to energy transition with Sun4All project

Abstract

Abstract The transition to an environmentally sustainable, low-carbon economy requires fundamental transformations in various sectors such as industry, technology, and especially in society as a whole. Adopting and encouraging community energy are the key policies to facilitate sustainable energy and ecological and social transition. The Sun4All methodology aims at the design, promotion and building of energy communities based on solidarity, to contrast energy poverty and foresee the engagement of vulnerable households that normally have many difficulties in becoming active members of an energy sharing project realising PV plants. The selection of the beneficiaries’ families in the urban context is a process both technical, including socio-territorial GIS-based analysis, and social, activating the participation of grass-root associations, local schools, and facilitators. The strategic role of the municipality is coherent with the SECAP and results in the offers of several public building roofs with PV plants that are the cores of the Sun4all Energy Communities and will ensure the delivery of economic benefits for the vulnerable households, while through workshops, site visits to the plants, and communication activities will increase the citizens’ knowledge. The purpose of this paper is to explore the benefits that go far beyond energy efficiency, which is only the starting point.