Renewable Energy Communities: what they are and how they work

Le Renewable Energy Communities (CER) are becoming increasingly important in Italy, in parallel with the spread of photovoltaic and the need to produce energy from renewable sources. Behind the acronym CER there is a innovative model of energy production and sharing, which involves citizens, businesses and public bodies, united to create a new collective legal entity.

The basic principle is simple: collaborate to produce and consume clean energy locally. However, the reality of CERs is also complex from a managerial, regulatory and bureaucratic point of view. To better understand what it is, let's see who can be part of a CER, what are the incentives provided and what alternatives exist.

How to set up a Renewable Energy Community

CERs are constituted as real legal entities: they can join private citizens, SMEs, public bodies and non-profit associations. Each member of the community can assume one of the following roles:

• Energy producer: installs a photovoltaic system and inputs the energy produced into the CER network.
• Self-consumer: produces energy for its own consumption and transfers any surplus to the CER network.
• Consumer: it does not produce energy but uses energy shared within the community, benefiting from tariffs and incentives.

The organizational and legal structure of the CER must ensure participatory and equitable management among members, but also comply with the requirements imposed by national and European legislation.

Incentives for CERs: shared energy and economic advantages

To encourage the birth of CERs, Italian legislation has introduced a series of economic incentives in favor of shared energy production and consumption:

• Incentive rate: rewards energy produced and self-consumed within the community, with an incentive valid for the first 20 years of operation of the plant.
• Contribution for self-consumed energy: it further supports shared self-consumption, with an additional economic contribution.
• Valorization of excess energy: even energy not consumed by members of the CER, and sold on the market, enjoys advantageous conditions.

Added to these is a capital incentive for the construction of photovoltaic plants within CERs. However, this contribution is provided only for plants installed in municipalities with a population of less than 30,000 inhabitants, which limits access to many potential members in the urban environment.

The functioning of CERs: real and virtual self-consumption

The energy produced by photovoltaic plants within the CER can be consumed in two ways:

• Direct self-consumption: when the member of the CER is physically connected to the grid and uses the energy produced by the community.
• Virtual self-consumption: even members who are not directly connected can benefit from the energy produced thanks to a compensation mechanism based on production and consumption data recorded in the same time interval.

This system allows an equitable distribution of benefits among all members of the CER, even if they are not physically connected to the plants. It is precisely on virtually self-consumed energy that many of the planned incentives apply, with a view to maximizing energy efficiency and reducing costs.

An important reality, but not for everyone

CERs represent a fundamental model for local energy transition, encouraging the widespread production of clean energy, collective self-consumption and greater citizen awareness. However, they are not without limitations.

Participation requires precise requirements — from geographical location to network connection, to administrative management — that not everyone can meet. Let's think, for example, of those who live in a condominium apartment in a big city: for regulatory or technical reasons, they may be excluded from the benefits of CERs.

The alternative: shared solar parks

A concrete alternative to Renewable Energy Communities is represented by shared solar parks. This formula allows you to participate in the production of renewable energy even without installing plants, without proximity requirements and with a much simpler membership model.

In the case of projects promoted by companies such as GridShare, it is sufficient to buy one or more shares of a solar park through a crowdfunding platform. It is not necessary to be physically connected to the plant's grid: the energy produced is sold to the national grid, and the revenues are redistributed to investors.

This model eliminates the bureaucratic complexities of CERs and offers broad, inclusive and immediate access to the benefits of photovoltaic, even for those who live in urban or rented environments.

A new form of participation in the energy transition

Shared solar parks are establishing themselves as a complementary model to CERs, capable of overcoming its territorial and management constraints. The simplicity of the mechanism - from registration to management - makes it possible to involve a wide audience of citizens, contributing to the direct and democratic dissemination of renewable energy.

Whether it's a CER or a shared park, the principle doesn't change: produce and consume clean energy it is increasingly becoming a possible choice, even for those who have limited means or live in environments that are not favorable to the installation of a domestic system. In both cases, energy returns to being a collective resource.