Energy community
A legal entity through which neighbors, small firms and local authorities own or share local energy, such as solar, with community benefits rather than profit as its main purpose.
Photo: Simon Kadula / Unsplash
EU law defines two kinds. A renewable energy community (Directive (EU) 2018/2001) is a legal entity with open, voluntary participation, controlled by members located near its renewable projects, who are people, small and medium-sized firms or local authorities; its main purpose is environmental, economic or social benefit rather than profit. A citizen energy community (Directive (EU) 2019/944) follows the same idea but is not limited to renewables and may also supply, store or distribute energy.
In Italy they are called comunità energetiche rinnovabili (CER). The GSE manages the incentive on energy shared among members under ministerial decree 414/2023; to receive the incentive, the power plants and the members’ meters that share their energy must be connected under the same primary substation (cabina primaria) (GSE). A community raises local self-consumption.
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