Energy transition

Many municipalities and public bodies want to generate renewable energy on their own buildings and car parks, or to join an energy community, but have nobody in-house to assess feasibility, prepare the funding application and follow the design. TT covers the whole path, with the same approach it uses in its other fields: measure, model, map.

Problems we solve

A municipality has a funding call and a few weeks to submit a project for a PV plant with storage. A public body wants to know whether and how to set up a renewable energy community on its territory. A land reclamation consortium with hydropower plants is looking for an energy exchange agreement with a large industrial user. A city wants to know how much solar potential its roofs have.

Services

We prepare feasibility studies and funding applications for PV plants with battery storage, and then design them as project manager and lead engineer. We advise on setting up renewable energy communities, produce city-scale solar potential maps and study energy exchange between producers and consumers.

Methods and tools

Solar mapping is done in QGIS, with plugins developed for the project. On energy communities, the technical director worked within the Horizon 2020 project VPP4ISLANDS on a method based on blockchain and smart contracts. We also know PV from the measurement side: TT designed and produced instruments to characterise PV modules and strings, calibrated reference cells, and a sensor network that checks in real time the output of 110 plants with more than 4 GW of combined capacity (see Innovation). The technical director spoke about virtual energy communities at TEDx Countdown 2021.

Reference projects

PV with storage for public bodies (Grado, Lignano Sabbiadoro, Palmanova, Gradisca d'Isonzo and others). Feasibility studies, funding applications and designs. Case study.

Interreg CO ADRIA (Municipality of Udine). Technical assistance towards a cross-border energy community between Italy and Slovenia, with solar mapping of Udine and Monfalcone.

VPP4ISLANDS, Horizon 2020 (Municipality of Grado). Team leader and lead consultant for a method for energy communities based on blockchain and smart contracts.

Renewable energy community in Carnia (Comunità Montana della Carnia). Energy consultancy for setting up the community.

Hydropower energy exchange (Consorzio di Bonifica Pianura Friulana). Lead consultant for an energy exchange between the Consortium and a large private industrial company.

Other work: the feasibility study for a renewable energy community in Grado, with a PV plant of up to 500 kW, storage and blockchain-based services.