Enel Green Power (EGP) has announced the commissioning of a 17 MW solar power plant in Italy's Poggio Renatico, near Ferrara in Emilia Romagna calling it the country's 1st PV project to be built through crowdfunding, which the company says it built with the Fornasini Foundation.
It is the 1st project to be implemented under EGP's Scelta Rinnovabile (Renewable Choice) program through which the company says it intends to raise awareness about energy transition by involving denizens.
The program is primarily aimed at residents in the municipality where the project is to come up, enabling them to enjoy a period of exclusivity and particularly advantageous economic conditions. Post that, the initiative is open to all citizens.
"Those who participate can in fact recover the capital paid in initially and receive a fixed annual economic return for the duration of the initiative," explained EGP.
The 17 MW Malvezzi Solar Park managed to raise the fundraising target of €100,000 within the initial 15 days of the campaign launched on Ener2Crowd platform. It was targeted only for the residents of the Municipality of Poggio Renatico. This prompted the company to raise the overall fundraising target for the project to €200,000, open to all citizens. The raised target was also achieved on the 1st day itself, a month ahead of schedule.
A ground mounted solar power plant on around 22-hectare land, the Malvezzi project is equipped with bifacial solar modules from Risen Energy and monoaxial trackers. It is expected to generate 25 GWh annually.
In February 2023, Renantis said it will raise money for 32.6 MW agrivoltaic and storage facility in Italy through Ener2Crowd platform (see Crowdfunding Campaign For Italian Agrivoltaic Project).