Where, if not in Africa, can you find so much sun to convert into energy? But to do this you need technology, which is in short supply there. Promoting the development of agriculture and green energy in the countries of the southern shore of the Mediterranean is the objective of a memorandum of understanding signed by ENEA (the Italian national agency for new technologies, energy and economic development sustainable) and the RES4Africa foundation, which promotes the spread of renewable energies on the continent.
Agrivoltaic energy, commonly referred to as agrivoltaic, is a form of energy generated by a perfect combination of solar energy and plants, on agricultural land, which involves the combination of crops and solar panels. It is an innovative way of combining renewable energy with agriculture in a hot and arid landscape, by placing elevated solar panels on an undergrowth of plants, in order to produce clean energy.
“Over the last decade” explains Roberto Vigotti, RES4Africa Foundation secretary general, “we have noted how the progressive spread of renewable sources in North African territories has increased the conflict over land use. In this context, the agricultural sector has shown its full potential in improving the integration between energy and land use. The application of this system creates a winning synergy between water, energy and food ”.
To respond to the problem of soil consumption for energy purposes, which risks reducing the availability of food resources, ENEA will implement the task “Sustainable agriculture @ENEA”, established last March to favor the link between the main parties involved in the phases of design, construction and authorization of agricultural plants, both from a cultural and landscape point of view, as well as from a technical and economic point of view.
“With this agreement” declares Giorgio Graditi, director of the ENEA Department of Energy Technologies and Renewable Sources, “we intend to continue our commitment to favor the energy transition in Africa, putting in place the best strategies, such as agriculture. The installation of photovoltaic systems, considering their technological maturity, the low cost and the simplicity of the systems, is strategic with respect to the achievement of energy objectives. But to integrate renewable energies into the local electricity system it will be necessary to implement policies and demonstration initiatives that can make it easier for the private sector to play the role of accelerator of the energy transition ”.
ENEA, already honorary member since 2016 of RES4Med, the network founded to promote the development of renewables in the Mediterranean area and in the countries of North Africa and which with RES4Africa has also extended its range of action to the center-south of the African continent , has been playing an important institutional role for several years as a national inter-ministerial link in the field of cooperation and development.