COME AND SEE WHY

The island of Giannutri is considered a slice of heaven on earth.

How could it be otherwise? This is a protected natural area with twenty-seven “official” inhabitants (plus the constant trickle of tourists), distributed across less than three square kilometres of rocky terrain in the middle of the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The island has long been a resting and nesting site for may bird species, such as Audouin's gull, Marmora's warbler and the black-eared wheatear, and also contains plant species of real conservational interest. Popular dive sites allow visitors to admire large beds of posidonia oceanica beds, gorgoniidae, sponges and corals.

As with other Mediterranean islands not connected to the national electricity grid, on Giannutri, electricity has historically always been provided by diesel generators, which are extremely polluting. These generators are not only damaging for the surrounding environment due to emission of noxious fumes, but are also inefficient (three quarters of their energy is lost in the form of excess heat), in addition to having a significant acoustic impact.

The electricity produced costs on average six times more than continental prices: this difference leads to higher energy bills (over € 60 million per year for all the off-grid minor islands).

What better place to experiment with new, strictly “made in Terna” technologies?

Giannutri is a pioneer in the smart island project, which will involve the modernisation and increased efficiency of electricity systems on islands which are not connected to the national grid, thanks to innovative solutions combining green energy sources, energy storage and urban mobility, providing progressive and sustainable energy independence to small islands such as Giglio and Pantelleria.

The solution put forward by Terna is innovative both in terms of the technologies used and the recovery of land previously in a degraded state.

The project has two phases. The first, recently completed, involved the requalification of the ecological area with installation of a platform integrating a 60 kW photovoltaic system and a 130 kWh storage system with lithium-ion technology. This system works alongside the current diesel generation system, meeting up to 30% of the islands energy demand through renewable generation and also allowing complete phase-out of the diesel system during daytime hours (particularly during the winter, the island will be powered entirely by renewable energy). This work will allow a reduction of up to 40% in diesel consumption. The polluting emissions include not only those produced by the generators, but also by the boats that transport fuel from the mainland to the island.

The second phase of the project will involve the progressive dismantling of the existing diesel plant and installation of a new photovoltaic plant, thus doubling installed photovoltaic power. Thanks to this initiative, Giannutri will have total energy independence by the end of 2019.

Because of these innovative characteristics, the Giannutri smart islands project received both the 2018 Good Practice of the Year award from the Renewables Grid Initiative and the Sustainable Development prize from Ecomondo, the annual industry fair held in Rimini.