Energy communities

Energy communities: the evolution of self-consumption through collective self-consumers and the renewable-energy community.

With the energy transition moving ever closer to an active role for the community, Italy is preparing itself to welcome “Energy Communities”: associations of citizens, commercial enterprises and businesses that produce and share renewable energy. Falck Renewables – Next Solutions plays an active role in important discussions on Energy Communities and Storage, to make the most of these new opportunities and work to integrate them into electricity-market reform.

New consumer roles

Italian legislation is adopting innovative new consumer models:

“self-consumers of renewable energy that act collectively”, i.e. two or more consumers, located in the same building, in which there are one or more 100% renewable generation plants. The plants may be the property of third parties, but this activity cannot represent the primary commercial or professional activity and management of the plants must therefore be subject to the control of the consumers;
Renewable Energy Communities – RECs, i.e. a legal subject composed of multiple natural persons, SMEs and public entities within a limited area in which there are one or more generation plants exclusively using renewable energy owned by members of the REC. The purpose of RECs is to generate environmental, economic and social benefits at the community level, rather than financial profits.

A new community model

In a period when the concepts of “community” and “aggregation” are becoming increasingly important and renewables are the solution for a sustainable future, conversion of the Italian “Milleproroghe” Decree into law in 2020 has paved the way for establishment of renewable energy communities. Citizens, associations and commercial enterprises can install plants for the generation of renewable energy and become self-consumers, prompting better informed and optimised consumption.

But what is meant by “energy communities”?

Installation of renewable plants with total power below 200 kW, with the energy generated consumed on site or stored in storage systems. The plant must be connected to the low-voltage electricity grid, through the same low/medium-voltage transformer substation from which the energy community also draws energy from the grid. This includes installations on apartment buildings and commercial businesses.

The advantages for members of energy communities are

Tax deductibility

Incentive
applied for energy fed into the grid

Participation involves the following steps

Identification of the low-voltage grid to which you are connected and physical space for installation of the plant.

Preparation of community statutes, establishing an association or cooperative.

Signing up of citizens located within the area identified.

Choice of a partner for installation of the plant, with tax deductibility.

“Falck Renewables – Next Solutions, in addition to playing an active role in important discussions on Energy Communities and Storage, offers support to new communities for identification of the best technological and contractual solutions and for the design, creation and management of plants.
Want to find out more? Read the article published in the magazine “L’Energia Elettrica”, volume 97, issue 3, May/June 2020.
Fabio Zanellini, Head of Ancillary Services Development at Falck Renewables – Next Solutions, Martina Ravasi, Junior Business Analyst at Energy Team S.p.A. and Roberta Travisi, from the Regulatory & Community division at Vector Cuatro Group, discuss the current regulatory framework in Italy and future adoption of European legislation in this area.”

Read the article