Energy Communities: from promise to realisation, a concrete commitment is needed
by Mitia Cugusi
3' min read
3' min read
With the latest extension of the ERC Decree, the landscape of energy communities in Italy has taken a decisive leap forward. Thanks to this change, the number of Italian municipalities that can access the NRDP funds has increased by 40.46 per cent. Centres with up to 50,000 inhabitants are now also eligible for non-repayable grants of up to 40 per cent for installations within CERs. This means that more than 98 per cent of Italian municipalities - 7,763 out of 7,896 - are included in the measure.
A radical change that opens up new perspectives not only for citizens but also for businesses. According to analyses by Greenvolt Next, more than 5 million companies operate in municipalities with less than 50,000 inhabitants. If only 5 per cent of these were to join an ERC initially, this would amount to 250,000 companies. A potentially huge impact, destined to revolutionise the way our country produces, shares and consumes energy.
The potential is also very high for the local public sector: we estimate that between 46,000 and 77,000 buildings - schools, town halls, libraries, gyms, RSAs - can be integrated into CER configurations, with tangible economic and environmental benefits.
But the real news of these weeks concerns another fundamental front: the simplification of the governance of CERs. The GSE has recently clarified that it is now possible to set up a national legal entity to which several local configurations can adhere, thus overcoming the need to set up a new entity for each energy community. This makes it much easier to create a national network of CERs, with common rules, centralised governance, and the possibility of scaling up proven virtuous models.
A historic step forward for Renewable Energy Communities (RECs). Now small and medium-sized Italian municipalities, which represent the most capillary and strategic infrastructure to accelerate this change, have more accessible regulatory tools and incentives at their disposal, so the moment is favourable to act.
