San Pietro, a pilot energy community thanks to the European REACT project

THEisland of San Pietro with the Municipality of Carloforte it is the Italian pilot island in the context of the Horizon 2020 project, REACT, which aims to test innovative solutions to achieve theenergy independence in some European islands combining renewable energy plants with a demand response platform and promoting the involvement of islanders users in a local energy community. Thanks to this project, San Pietro can exploit his optimal weather characteristics for reduce its carbon footprint covering part of its energy demand with renewable energy sources or with the large NASCA solar plant and with the installation of photovoltaic panels on public buildings and on the roofs of private homes participating in the project. In REACT the users are placed at the center of the project as main actors becoming more than just consumers but producers of energy that actively contribute. They can monitor their consumption and energy production through innovative measurement systems and user-friendly platforms. And in particular, through the demand response system, the user is rewarded with financial incentives when he shifts his consumption from moments of peak demand to periods of higher generation and lower demand. The energy produced directly on the island comes like this used and shared within the community. The involvement of more homes combined with the spread of technologies from renewable plants will increase the production of energy on site and therefore the island's self-sufficiency, reducing its dependence on the national electricity grid. The REACT project adopts technologies smart grid. Mitsubishi Electric Italia supplies high-performance heat pumps that directly translate into energy savings, R2M provides support for the overall energy management of the homes participating in the project and studies the potential installation of new renewable energy systems and Midac Batterie SpA together with Western CO srl provides energy storage systems to ensure flexibility to the grid and optimize the demand response curve. For the pilot project, 30 buildings have been identified with the final goal, however, of involving the entire community and working together towards the island's energy autonomy through replication activities.