Environment: in operation on Lampedusa Island one of the southernmost recharging station for electric vehicles in Europe

In operation on Lampedusa Island one of the southernmost recharging station for electric vehicles in Europe. The result of a collaboration between the Municipality and ENEA - the Agency for New Technologies, Energy and a Sustainable Economic Development that manages the Climate Observatory on Lampedusa - the station was designed to be powered by a photovoltaic panels system and it will enable tourists and inhabitants to use zero-emission vehicles ^[1].

The recharging station is located near the Lighthouse of Capo Grecale, in the north-east tip of the island and it allows to simultaneously recharge two vehicles, following identification of the user via an electronic card; currently it is possible to fill up the tank free of charge via cards issued to vehicle owners and vehicle managers in agreement with the Municipality. The project, financed by MISE, is part of a wider context of innovative electricity production systems experimentation, especially with regard to the effects on the electrical system and the islands.

“This Administration has always supported initiatives conducive to tangibles outcomes- Giusi Nicolini, Mayor of Lampedusa, pointed out-. Setting up the first recharging station means laying a pathway leading to increasingly sustainable mobility; the increase of recharging infrastructures and electric vehicles on the islands of Lampedusa and Linosa will be a priority goal of future joint projects with ENEA, with the involvement of the Marine Protected Area.

As highlited in the Position Paper of the Italian Commission for Electric Road Vehicles on Support to a Sustainable Road Mobility, the lack of recharging stations is one of the major obstacles to the development of electrical mobility that, especially in minor islands where the road network is not extensive and there are less electric range problems specific to low power electric vehicles (bicycles, scooters, light quadricycles) it represents a cost-effective solution.

“Following the Agreement signed a few months ago between ENEA and the Marine Protected Area “Pelagian Islands”- Francesco Monteleone, researcher at the ENEA Laboratory for Earth and Climate Observation and Analysis, pointed out - this initiative is an additional opportunity to plan and conduct infrastructural interventions aiming at promoting energy efficiency and sustainable mobility in the Lampedusa and Linosa Municipality. In fact, research and technology development projects must increasingly address energy efficiency issues, energy demand optimization, a sustainable management of waste and water. ENEA has the potential to conduct high-quality interventions in the areas of energy technologies, energy efficiency, sustainability”.

Testing of technologies for energy production from renewable sources with electric storage systems and the development of advanced management and control strategies of renewable source-electric storage integrated systems are one of the initiatives ENEA is conducting with the Energy Technology Department. In July ENEA and ANCIM, the National Minor Islands Municipalities Association, signed an Agreement for the sustainable development of Italian minor islands to make them centers of excellence for sustainability.

For more information please contact:

Francesco Monteleone – Laboratory for Earth and Climate Observation and Analysis - Department of Territorial and Production Systems Sustainability - francesco.monteleone@enea.it

Mario Tucci Photovoltaic Technologies Laboratory – Energy Technologies Department - mario.tucci@enea.it

^[1] The ENEA Climate Observation Station on the Island of Lampedusa is a research infrastracture dealing with the measurement of parameters crucial for climate monitoring. Lampedusa is a particularly suitable site for the study of the structure and chemical composition of the atmosphere, the balance of solar and infrared radiation and oceanography.