Review of public–private partnerships in agro-energy districts in Southern Europe: The cases of Greece and Italy

Abstract

This paper presents a review of the methodology of implementing public–private partnerships (PPPs) for agro-energy districts in two rural areas in Southern Europe (the case of Greece and Italy). We propose a comprehensive methodology to apply a PPP scheme to agro-energy districts that includes guidelines for successful application of PPPs, the rationale behind them, the benefits for European rural areas, and the success and week factors in the implementation of PPPs. We also propose an initiative to adopt a PPP scheme for a specific agro-energy district and its preparation. The approach of the Greek case is a bottom-up application, which starts from the PPP scheme and then the target area is analysed; while the approach applied to the Italian case is a top-down application, starting from the target area and then, the right PPP scheme is established. We conclude that PPP schemes for agro-industry districts can successfully be implemented in rural areas either way for the production of thermal and electrical power from biomass residues.