Abstract
The community approach in Italy was limited to very specific local situations until the early 2000s. The liberalization of the energy markets as well as the introduction of renewable energy policy support (feed-in tariffs) made the development of some new experiences possible earlier than in other European countries, although limited in number and size.
A new spring for the Italian community energy sector may follow on the national implementation of the EU Directives introducing Renewable Energy Communities and Citizen Energy Communities. A number of pilot projects are currently under development. Whether this will lead to a revival of local small-scale experiences or will reinforce larger Italian Community Energy (CE) initiatives or bring new actors on the scene is an open question worthy of analysis and discussion.
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Notes
- 1.
Law 28 February 2020, n. 8 “Conversione in legge, con modificazioni, del decreto-legge 30 dicembre 2019, n. 162, recante disposizioni urgenti in materia di proroga di termini legislativi, di organizzazione delle pubbliche amministrazioni, nonché di innovazione tecnologica.”
- 2.
The Law 8/2020 also defines Collective Self-Consumption (CSC) projects, whose main difference from RECs is that their member have to live in the same building, while RECs include members linked to the same low voltage distribution sub-grid.
- 3.
ARERA 2020 Delibera 04 August 2020 “Regolazione delle partite economiche relative all’energia elettrica condivisa da un gruppo di autoconsumatori di energia rinnovabile che agiscono collettivamente in edifici e condomini oppure condivisa in una comunità di energia rinnovabile” 318/2020/R/eel.
- 4.
GSE 2020 “Gruppi di autoconsumatori di energia rinnovabile che agiscono collettivamente e comunità di energia rinnovabile—Regole tecniche per l’accesso al servizio di valorizzazione e incentivazione dell’energia elettrica condivisa.”
- 5.
The constitution of a legal entity is not needed for Collective Self-Consumption projects.
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Candelise, C., Ruggieri, G. (2021). The Community Energy Sector in Italy: Historical Perspective and Recent Evolution. In: Coenen, F.H.J.M., Hoppe, T. (eds) Renewable Energy Communities and the Low Carbon Energy Transition in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84440-0_5
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