Video
Video file
Moderation: Marina Montero Carrero – Technical lead, Clean energy for EU islands secretariat (3E)
- Ugo Toić - Cres-Lošinj archipelago (Croatia)
- Nuria Albet Torres - La Palma Renovable (Spain)
- Yiannis Fragkoulis– Kasos (Greece)
- Claudio Moscoloni – Pantelleria (Italy)
The CETA is a strategic roadmap for the energy transition. From 2018 until 2020, the secretariat mainly focussed on helping islands to develop CETAs and worked to build on them with continued support, but also helped with specific projects on the islands. The four islands invited to this session have already developed CETAs and have continued to build on their CETAs and continue their clean energy transition.
Nuria Albet Torres works for La Palma Renovable (Spain), a citizen movement for the energy transition in La Palma.
La Palma Renovable emerged as a pragmatic social movement. They are working with the Council of the island, creating a team of projects and collecting signatures to commit to the energy transition. Carbon footprinting with the aim to decarbonise is one focus of the movement. They are trying to find out what is needed and why are things not happening. Currently, La Palma Renovable is working on the footprint of the whole island. There's a need for a new economic model for the island, which is dependent on tourism and banana export. La Palma Renovable is currently doing the planning for the grid and established a Green Office for householders to learn about energy efficiency (small actions can create a big impact).
Claudio Moscoloni spoke for the island of Pantelleria (Italy) and is a Research fellow at the Politecnico di Torino. He serves as a technical partner for the Municipality of the island.
In 2015, the first commitment from the local authority to green and blue energy was made. Pantelleria worked on its CETA from 2019 to 2020 and involved local stakeholders to create a shared vision of the island. They started building solar power plants in brownfields, participated in the public tender as part of the recovery plan, encourage PV rooftops and restore pipelines.
Yiannis Fragkoulis from the island of Kasos (Greece) spoke about the EU island secretariat's support for their mobility plans and how to reach the goals set by the island. He stated that all islands have similar problems and emphasised the importance of combining cultural tradition with innovation.
Ugo Toić from the Cres-Lošinj archipelago (Croatia) said that the Island Development Agency started the energy transition in 2019 with the Clean energy for EU islands initiative and secretariat as a trigger to involve the community and develop a CETA. The secretariat gave them directions that helped to finish the CETA. Afterwards, the island also employed an energy transition manager. Later, Cres-Lošinj received Technical Assistance for its biogas potential. They put PV on rooftops/canopies in car parks and established an energy cooperative. Many activities are organised in public-private partnerships. The island uses the cooperative as a crowdfunding platform for its clean energy transition projects.
Summary:
We need to empower the people and make them understand the advantages of clean energy not only monetary but also for biodiversity. We need to regard this time of crisis as an opportunity to start and further the transition. Islands should continue the work with the community and use it as catalysers. However, there is a need for leaders to push the agenda forward.