Elektropionir co-op hopes the move will help decentralise energy production and drive citizen involvement in the energy transition
Serbian energy co-op Elektropionir has launched a crowdfunding campaign for two solar power plants in villages on the Stara planina mountain, in the south-east of the country.
These will be the first solar plants in the country to be run by a co-op, Balkan Green Energy News reports. They will be installed on the roofs of the council building in Temska and the cultural centre of Dojkinci, with the entire income returned to the community.
The co-op, founded in 2009, hopes the move will assist with the decentralisation of energy production, and encourage inclusion for a socially just energy transition. It says it intends to show that all citizens, not just major investors, can be the drivers of the transition to sustainable energy.
Energy has to be clean and can be community-owned, it adds.
The project will cost £12,300 in total – or RSD1.7m, and members of Elektropionir have already raised half of the entire amount from donors and own funds.
The co-op said it would use any surplus money to plan and raise more for the construction of larger solar power plants.
By Miles Hadfield, thenews.coop