Energy communities (latest regulations and news 2025)

Energy communities are an increasingly widespread phenomenon in Italy, thanks to the development of renewable energy and growing environmental awareness. But what exactly are they? And how do they work?

What is an energy community?

An energy community is a group of people, companies or entities that produce, consume and share renewable energy locally. Energy is generated from photovoltaic, wind or other renewable sources and used directly by members of the community. If production exceeds demand, the excess energy can be stored or transferred to the national grid.

Energy communities are created with the objective of decentralizing energy production, reducing dependence on large suppliers and promoting a more sustainable and equitable model. Thanks to the sharing of energy, a virtuous system is created that makes it possible to optimize consumption and reduce losses due to the transport of energy over long distances. If you want to know more, read this guide!

Types of energy communities

Energy communities can take different forms, depending on their structure and the objectives pursued:

- Residential energy communities: composed of citizens who install renewable plants for self-consumption and energy sharing.

- Industrial energy communities: companies that come together to optimize energy consumption and reduce operating costs.

- Municipal energy communities: initiatives promoted by municipalities to power public buildings and encourage the use of renewable energy.

Examples of energy communities in Italy

Energy communities are multiplying across the country. Some examples:

Magliano Alpi (Cuneo)): First Italian energy community founded in 2020 thanks to the collaboration between the municipality and the Polytechnic of Turin. The energy produced powers public buildings and private homes.

Torano Lodigiano (Lodi): Community created with the support of Sorgenia, which provides clean energy to individuals and public bodies.

Pinerolo (Turin)): Small-scale community that powers a condominium completely redeveloped from an energy point of view.

Naples Ist: A neighborhood in transformation, where, thanks to a public-private initiative, an energy community is being built to provide energy to low-income families.

Bologna - Pilot District: An experimental project involving multiple neighborhoods, focusing on the combination of photovoltaic systems and storage batteries to maximize self-consumption.

Legislation on energy communities

In Italy, the regulation of energy communities is defined by Legislative Decree no. 199/2021, which transposes the European RED II directive (2018/2001). This regulation establishes:

Who can participatee: individuals and legal entities, apartment buildings, SMEs, public bodies, religious associations and research institutions.

The legal model: communities can be constituted as cooperatives, associations or other recognized legal forms.

The available incentives: contributions proportional to the power of the plant and the amount of energy shared.

From 2025, additional concessions are provided to encourage the birth of new energy communities, including tax breaks for companies that invest in these realities and concessions on financing for citizens who want to join.

Benefits of energy communities

Joining an energy community offers a number of advantages:

Environmental: reduction of CO2 emissions and less energy waste thanks to local production.

Social: creation of collaboration networks between citizens and the development of the local economy.

Cheap: savings in the bill and the possibility of earning from the sale of surplus energy.

Energetics: greater independence from the energy market and less vulnerability to price fluctuations.

How to create an energy community

To create an energy community, it is necessary to follow some basic steps:

- Identify a group of stakeholders: citizens, businesses or public bodies that want to collaborate.

- Define a legal model: cooperative, association or other type of legal entity.

- Install an energy production plant: photovoltaic, wind power or other renewable sources.

- Request the necessary authorizations: by contacting local authorities and competent authorities.

- Access incentives: check the funding opportunities and the available benefits.

How to participate with GridShare

If you want to take advantage of the possibilities and advantages offered by energy communities in a simple way, the optimal solution is the one offered by GridShare.

GridShare offers you the opportunity to buy a share of a large photovoltaic park managed in a shared way. By buying a share equal to your annual electricity consumption, you can save on your bill and have more predictable energy costs for the next 30 years.

Thanks to GridShare, you can obtain a return from energy production, thus reducing the cost of your consumption. In addition, it is not necessary to install a photovoltaic system in your home: the energy produced is managed by the community and distributed among the participants.

Investing in an energy community not only reduces environmental impact, but it also represents an economically advantageous solution for the future.