The Project

Among the consequences of ongoing climate change is the alteration of seasonal cycles and rainfall profiles: it rains less and, above all, extreme events are increasingly frequent. Due to the non-optimal permeability of the soil caused by drought, the water that falls, in addition to causing damage, does not penetrate deeply, flows, does not feed the aquifers and is largely lost.
It is therefore necessary to adopt long-term strategies to accumulate water when it is available, for example by planning the construction of reservoirs. However, we must be aware that the storage basins, if built, will be available in a few years, while the water is needed now.

The “Bealera Maestra – Destra Stura” Consortium (hereinafter Consortium) of Bene Vagienna, in the Province of Cuneo, is one of the largest Piedmontese bodies for the management of water for agricultural uses: established in the 15th century, the participating Bodies and Consortia they fall within the territory of 12 municipalities with a population of 45,000 inhabitants.
The agricultural district extends on the right of the Stura river, in the Province of Cuneo, and includes the municipalities ranging from Castelletto Stura to Cherasco, for a surface area of ​​over 12,000 hectares and over five thousand users served. The activity of the agricultural-artisan-industrial companies in the area extends directly and indirectly to the territories of the numerous neighboring municipalities.

The Consortium has decided to adopt a strategy of responsible and sustainable use of water resources to effectively distribute water to companies in the agro-zootechnical sector: i.e. switching from traditional flowing and submersible irrigation systems to pressurized networks equipped with sprinklers ( including “drop by drop” ones).
For these network upgrade interventions, 76 million euros were allocated to the Consortium, of which the first lot (20 M€) has already been contracted and the construction site was inaugurated on 05/19/2023.

The increase in energy costs that occurred in 2022 caused the charges that the Consortium pays for pumping to skyrocket, resulting in the urgent need to define systemic policies for the containment and stabilization of expenses related to electricity bills.

The pressure pipelines in the project are suitable for powering hydroelectric power plants which can mitigate energy costs by increasing the share of physical self-consumption: the Consortium is about to activate three new ones, for a total power of 2 MW. And they are a constant 2 MW, given that the pressurized pipelines are not influenced by the seasonality of the water flow. The portion of energy fed into the grid can be consumed by local users: the case of public lighting is significant, which has a significant impact on the budgets of Municipalities, and is well suited to using energy produced at night by the Consortium’s power plants (the power plants produce energy even at night!).

The transposition of Directive 2018/2001 (RED-II) with Legislative Decree 199/2021 makes it possible to share and self-consume the energy produced locally, establishing Renewable Energy Communities (CER) and benefiting from incentives on self-consumption.

The Consortium has therefore decided to promote Renewable Energy Community (CER) of primary substation in the territory of the associated Municipalities, operating as a prosumer.

The Consortium is a private law body made up of irrigation consortia and municipalities. There are 12 municipalities in which the canals flow and the pressure pipes are positioned. It is a very vast territory, which goes from the Alps to the plain and involves 8 primary cabins.

Thanks to the will of the President of the Consortium and Mayor of Benevagienna, Claudio Ambrogio https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudio-ambrogio-121923149/, within the network of Municipalities called “Magliano&Friends” https://www. comune.maglianoalpi.cn.it/Dettaglionews?IDNews=220329 and with the technical support, the Consortium has decided to operate as a promoter of CER, involving companies and local authorities with a view to inter-municipal integration for the benefit of the territory.
Based on a feasibility study and a business plan created with the scientific support of Sergio Olivero https://it.linkedin.com/in/sergio-olivero-61a32916 of the Energy Center of the Polytechnic of Turin and coordinator of the ‘Magliano&Friends initiative, the Consortium will operate as director of the process of establishing CER on the territory of the municipalities of the district and the neighboring ones falling under the primary cabins involved. This is an area where a total of 45,000 inhabitants live.

But that’s not all: the Consortium also intends to manage the CERs that will be established, configuring itself as a “Territorial Energy Community” (CET), according to the definition introduced by WEC Italia (World Energy Council) in the paper “Collective Self-Consumption and Energy Community Renewable” https://www.wec-italia.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Paper-Autoconsumo-collettivo-e-Comunita%CC%80-di-energia-rinnovabile-1-1.pdf

The CET created by the Consortium will be equipped with an IoT-type “smart” management platform with Artificial Intelligence capabilities, and will have the role of Virtual Energy Company with the aim of creating a dimensional scale and a governance capacity that allow interact “on equal terms” with energy players and utilities and effectively implement an energy democracy that gives voice to the territories, leaving a significant part of the value created by the new business models enabled by the CERs on the territory.

The Consortium will also operate as director and coordinator of the CER projects to be nominated for the PNRR funds of the M2-M2C2-I 1.2 measure: 2.2 billion euros – of which 280 million for the CERs in the Piedmontese Municipalities – which will not be left alone in multidisciplinary and reporting complexity.