Italy’s renewable energy community initiative

The European Directives 2018/2001 (RED-II) and 944/2019 unleashed huge potential for energy communities’ substantial development at the European level. In 2021, Italy issued EUR 2.2 billion in grants to promote self-consumption of renewables, encouraging renewable energy communities. The City of Magliano Alpi applied for access the incentive mechanism and established Italy’s first renewable energy community in December 2020, under which it promotes innovative aggregation and governance structures for clean energy. The community model enables citizens to become energy prosumers, towards a more inclusive electricity market. Consumers can produce energy from sustainable sources like rooftop solar, and either sell surplus energy to the grid or share it with neighbouring buildings. The possible aggregation of smart and efficient infrastructure may also allow private investors to cross necessary investment thresholds and achieve economies of scale as well as empower communities to benefit from further funding and financial incentives in the country. The municipality represents a testing ground for new business models and financial products. 

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