Sharing knowledge to share energy: the experience of a Renewable Energy Community
Collective consumption in Italy
In the past, the energy transition was almost only addressed by governments, who invested money to overcome the high cost of renewable energy. In recent years, following a strong reduction of cost associated with the clean energy technology, the leading role moved from government to industries, which wanted to reduce production cost. Nowadays, the time has come to hand over responsibilities to citizens, who are asked to become active to spread renewable energy systems in the residential sector. To achieve this, one of the mechanisms put in place is strengthening Renewable Energy Communities (REC, or Comunità Energetica Rinnovabile – CER in Italian).
The Italian legislation on collective self-consumption entered into force on the 24th of January 2024[i]. It defined the rules for sharing locally-produced energy, and it soon became very present in the public discussion. In parallel, the Italian government set 2.2 million euros to support the installation of renewable energy systems for citizens who join a CER and live in municipalities with less than 5000 inhabitants[ii] (the so-called “PNRR fund”). Such measure is particularly relevant for territories in mountain communities, generally composed by little-size municipalities where bringing electricity could be more difficult than in cities.
CER-Amica
Our CER, namely “CER-Amica”, was officially founded in late 2023 in Laveno-Mombello, one of the municipalities belonging to the “Valli del Verbano” mountain community embracing the area between Lake Maggiore and the alps in the Varese province in Northern Italy. CER-Amica is born from the willingness of citizens to play a leading role in the energy transition of their territory[iii]. Our CER shares the electricity in excess produced by the domestic photovoltaic panels of its members.
After one year of experience, we may proudly say that we build up a community. This is an extremely important success, as our individual interests evolved in mutual helping in the community. Indeed, our members share among each other suggestions and technical information for installing solar panels, and personal experiences on how to apply for the PNRR fund. We also promoted events for energy education, where participants learnt about the underlying factors ruling the cost of energy, the Italian energy dependence (due to import of fossil fuels), and how to maximise benefits of individual and collective self-consumption.
Time is running out
CERs became attractive for the economic rewarding mechanism set up by the government: the more self-produced energy is consumed within the CER, the more money the CER receives. Each CER must request such rewards to GSE (i.e., Gestore Servizi Energetici – the Italian governmental agency in charge of promoting renewable energy), which approves the request and gives access to this incentivizing scheme for 20 years. However, for us, having our request approved was a big hurdle so far. We sent our first request in June 2024, which was rejected after five months and several integrations with documents that have not been asked for at the beginning. We presented our second attempt for accessing incentives in November 2024, and it is still pending.
CERs could be a great opportunity for Italy to boost energy transition, but long bureaucracy procedures could be detrimental. In addition, the government set strict deadlines and time is running out. CERs must be registered within the 31st of March 2025 and power plants eligible for incentives within the 18 months after the acceptance of the access to incentives, or, anyhow, before the 30th of June 2026[iv]. Creating a CER is not immediate, and it requires the support of experts. For instance, it took several months for us and we started discussing it years before, and we were supported by the energy cooperative ènostra[v]. Many CERs are still in the process. For instance, another CER in the area is close to its foundation (after very long time) but worried to miss the deadline of March.
Similarly, the deadline for PNRR funds is getting close. Requests must be presented before 31st of March 2025[vi]. We organised an internal seminar in which one of our members explained how to get access to PNRR funds. Now three more members are applying for the same funds. The window for access such funds is still open, many citizens could be interested in applying for it but not ready, missing the knowledge or the technical data required in the application (e.g., the supplier quote for the solar panels).
In short, CERs are the right measure to boost the energy transition but bureaucracy and strict deadlines may limit this opportunity.
The support of mountain community
The concept of community is in common to both CERs and mountain communities. We experienced the benefits of this symbiosis. Indeed, many local associations in the “Valli del Verbano” mountain community are effectively promoting CER-Amica and other two CERs in the area[vii] [viii]. For instance, the “Rete per il Clima del Verbano”[ix] created tools explaining CERs, as well as handbooks and protocols for installing photovoltaic plants meeting the requirements to be eligible for CERs (for both consumers and installers). They are actively explaining the functioning and the requirements not only to citizens, but also to public administrations and photovoltaic installers, to cover all actors involved. Within the mountain community, the project “BoscoClima” of the University of Insubria offers, among others, a free help desk for citizens interested in energy efficiency, including support to CERs and to access PNRR funds.
In conclusion, the support of experts and local association is extremely important to move in the dynamic context of this brand-new regulation. It can really boost the system of CERs and overcome the hurdles along the way. We are all learning day by day and supporting each other: sharing knowledge to share energy!
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References
[i] https://www.mase.gov.it/sites/default/files/Decreto%20CER.pdf
[ii] https://www.gse.it/servizi-per-te/attuazione-misure-pnrr/comunit%C3%A0-energetiche-5000abitanti
[iii] https://cer-amica.webnode.it/chi-siamo/
[iv] https://www.gse.it/documenti_site/Documenti%20GSE/Servizi%20per%20te/AUTOCONSUMO/Gruppi%20di%20autoconsumatori%20e%20comunita%20di%20energia%20rinnovabile/Regole%20e%20procedure/ALLEGATO%201%20Regole%20Operative%20CACER.pdf
[v] https://www.enostra.it/comunita-energetiche/consulenza-cer/
[vi] https://www.gse.it/servizi-per-te/attuazione-misure-pnrr/comunit%C3%A0-energetiche-5000abitanti
[vii] https://www.comune.luino.va.it/notizie/2830371/nata-comunita-energetica-rinnovabile-luinese
[viii] https://www.cer-anpci.it/nasce-la-cer-dei-laghi/
[ix] https://reteperilclimadelverbano.it/guida-alla-cer-comunita-energetica-rinnovabile/