From Sicily, a new project combining ecological and digital transition promises to revolutionise the renewable energy production market
A new fintech project is about to be born at the foot of Mount Etna, and two companies with experience in their respective fields are giving life to it, renewable energies and digital innovation can make school, we are talking about Regran e Futurea.
Call him Renewable energy marketplace could be reductive, because it will not only be a (virtual) place where actors in the renewables market can talk to each other and close deals, but also, and above all, a place from where they can act to bring the true economic and social value created by the production of electricity from the sun back to the land where it was generated.
The context
According to the latest data released by the Fer Observatory (Renewable Energy Sources) by Anie rinnovabili, the Confindustria association of clean energy companies, 3,036 MW will be installed in Italy in 2022, broken down as follows: 2,482 MW in photovoltaics526 MW in wind power, 31 MW in hydropower, while bioenergy recorded a decrease of -3.2 MW. But although there was an increase of 109% in new installed capacity from 2021 to 2022, the country is still far from reaching the EU targets.
Much needs to be done, much is being done, and much more will be done in the months to come. This should mean, especially for certain geographical areas with particular enabling characteristics for renewable energy production, the possibility of attracting substantial capital that can then be redistributed throughout the territory. Were it not that, as reality teaches us, those who are currently investing the capital, effectively acquiring ownership of the plants and thus the production of energy, are the large foreign investors who, of course, of the conspicuous returns generated by the sale of energy leave nothing to the territory that that energy has generated.
The vision
It is in this context that the innovative project developed by Regran and Futurea takes shape. Its first ambitious objective is to disrupt established procedures in order to achieve positive spin-offs on the local territory, which in this specific case is Sicily, a land kissed by the sun.
The engineer explains Marco Anfuso, Ceo of Regran, who accompanies many multinationals in the development of projects for the installation of photovoltaic parks: "The value of the plants is in their ownership, and in the generation of the economic flows that result from them for 35 or 40 years, normally the years stipulated in the agreement with the landowner. The part that we do (that of engineering development, ed) is certainly important, and also paid very well, but it is a one-off, while the ownership of the plants generates income for tens of years, income that for the most part will go to foreign investors without contributing in any way to the growth of the area. The time has come for the wheel to change direction, we must ensure that the economic value, developed by the photovoltaic plants, but not only them, that will be located in our land, remain here to generate a return and a social induced activity in terms of specialised skills and jobs, distributing wealth".
The protagonists
But who are Regran and Futurea, the two partner companies in this joint venture that brings together ecological transition and digital transition in a single project?
Born in Ragusa in 2007 Regran, a company active in the field of renewable energy production, in particular from photovoltaics. Today, Regran is a healthy and growing company, known nationally and internationally, also being present in countries such as Malta and Brazil.
With a team of around 50 people, of which 35 are engineers, Regran has several divisions in-house through which it touches all aspects of photovoltaics. It is with the Engineering Division that Regran oversees large projects, mostly financed by large foreign companies in China, America, Spain, England and Germany, for which the company takes care of the entire engineering part, from obtaining the authorised certificates to the executive project, from construction management to safety coordination, and for smaller installations also the construction and maintenance. A unique and irreplaceable technical know-how, accompanied by a profound knowledge of its territory.
"A 'challenger company'. This is how it defines itself Futurea, the company present in Milan, Rome and Catania, specialises in helping SMEs to develop and establish themselves in the market, providing consultancy and support services in various areas, including marketing, finance, technology and product development. Futurea emerges in the panorama of companies that produce innovation for service, its core business, Start-up as a servicewhich, playing a bit with computer acronyms, becomes Suaas: a real factory of startup third parties, where these 'third parties' are companies that wish to innovate, expand, make scalable, their business through digital technologies and that now, together with Futurea, are embarking on this path of change. The business model envisages the establishment of a NewCo separate from the client company's business, which will hold its governance and long-term direction, while operational management will be in the hands of Futurea, which, by linking its remuneration mechanism to the results of the new company, will be fully engaged in the success of the project. "This model makes it possible to create innovation outside the company's perimeter, free from its restraints and oriented towards scalability as 100% digital," comments Giorgio Ventura, Managing Partner of Futurea.