Udinese and Bluenergy Group, the utilities firm which holds naming rights to the club’s home stadium, have launched what is claimed to be football’s first renewable energy community.
The ‘Energia in Campo’ project is powered by a solar park, which has been installed at Bluenergy Stadium. The system features 2,409 solar panels on the stadium’s roof and is set to generate around 1.1 million kilowatt hours annually.
Udinese and Bluenergy commenced the start of construction on the photovoltaic system back in February 2024. It came after Bluenergy agreed a five-year deal for naming rights to Udinese’s stadium in October 2023.
The stadium itself will use around 70% of the energy generated by the solar panels, with the remaining 30% to be made available to the energy community, which in turn will benefit from incentives that the Energy Services Manager ringfences for the energy produced by the facility and simultaneously consumed by the renewable energy community (CER).
Proceeds from the initiative will support the creation of a new residential care facility for young people with eating disorders. Resources will also be allocated to a social charity project that aims to support the Friuli Centrale University Health Authority and the Child Neuropsychiatry facility.
Franco Collavino, director general at Udinese, said: “Today is a historic moment – the creation of the first energy community in Italian football is born from the Bluenergy Stadium. It’s a unique project that goes hand in hand with the solar park and that sees us, together with Bluenergy, once again acting as pioneers, allowing us to consolidate our stadium as a global model of sustainability. The energy community makes our stadium project a solid point of reference for the local area, giving fans the opportunity to team up with us for the environment by becoming true ambassadors for sustainability.”
Alberta Gervasio, chief executive of Bluenergy, added: “The completion of the solar park and the launch of the world’s first football CER mark an extraordinary milestone in our commitment to sustainability. This project not only significantly reduces the environmental impact of the stadium but introduces an innovative model of sharing renewable energy that involves businesses and fans, providing added value for the local area.
“We’re particularly proud that the benefits of the energy community are allocated to a social project of great importance, an initiative that demonstrates how the energy transition can go beyond environmental protection and become a driver of concrete change, capable of improving people’s lives and strengthening the link with the community.”
