Following the approval of the European Union and the favorable ruling of the Court of Auditors, the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (MASE) yesterday published the decree that regulates the disbursement of the 5.5 billion euros for incentives for the development of energy communities (RECs) and sanctions their entry into force today. RECs have been identified as one of the necessary actors for the dissemination of renewable energy installations, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the country’s energy independence.
A REC is an association of citizens, small and medium-sized enterprises, local authorities and local authorities (municipal administrations, cooperatives, research institutions, religious institutions, third sector institutions, environmental protection institutions) from the same geographical area that, thanks to the use of the national distribution network, share the renewable electricity produced by the installations of one or more participants in the community.
The main objective is to create environmental, economic and social benefits for the members and the local areas in which they Operate through the self-consumption of renewable energy.
A €5.7 billion incentive scheme, partly financed by PNRR (National Plan for Recovery and Resilience) funds, consists of two parts: a premium tariff recognised on the basis of the total amount of energy produced and consumed in the community, and a grant to finance up to 40% of the costs of setting up the community. In addition, this plan is designed to incentivise the installation of 7 GW of new renewable energy within 5 years.
Growth forecasts predict more than 15,000 Energy Communities throughout the Country by 2027, involving more than 2 million connected users. The potential development of Energy Communities without the aid of the incentives provided by this decree should also be considered.
The goal of energy communities
The main objective of an ERC is therefore to create environmental, economic and social benefits for its members or associates and the local areas in which they operate through self-consumption of renewable energy. The higher the self-consumption of energy, the greater the incentive and benefits. Self-consumption of energy is determined by the Gestore dei Servizi Energetici (GSE) on the basis of measurements that are automatically transmitted to the community by the energy suppliers.
Information obligations arising from access to the incentives
Incentive beneficiaries are required to provide all information necessary for the implementation of evaluation and monitoring measures, including detailed annual reporting on the benefits resulting from the incentives and their distribution among the RECs’ members or shareholders.
Marco Ciscato, President of Maps Group, comments: “With the announcement of the implementation decrees and the payment of 5.7 billion in incentives to municipalities, MAPS Digital Energy Community becomes even more important. Our software not only optimises energy production and actively engages participants in maximising self-consumption by fairly distributing the incentives generated, but also directly contributes to meeting community reporting obligations and simplifies and optimises preliminary simulation by providing clear estimates of performance indicators for conducting techno-economic feasibility studies of future energy communities.
Maps Group’s digital solutions for CACERs
To support and facilitate the development of new renewable energy communities MAPS Group has developed MAPS Digital Energy Community, the cloud-based software solution that digitises the processes of feasibility analysis, promotion, establishment, monitoring and management of energy data and incentive allocation for renewable energy sharing configurations (CACER).
>> More information about MAPS Digital Energy Community
The Energy Community Designer module supports the preliminary simulation and energy and economic analysis of renewable energy sharing configurations in just a few clicks. It provides an estimation of key performance indicators that contribute to the realisation of techno-economic feasibility studies of energy communities (RECs), collective self-consumption groups, and individual self-consumption systems of remote renewable energy.
Thanks to the ease of use and the many included functionalities, Energy Community Designer helps develop and improve the business model and contributes to the formulation of a long-term strategy for the management of renewable energy sharing projects.
>> More information about Energy Community Designer
The Energy Community Promoter module simplifies the promotion of renewable energy sharing projects and streamlines the identification and management of stakeholders interested in participating, from the collection of expressions of interest to the completion of the registration process as a full member of the community.
It provides a dedicated web interface that is highly configurable and integrated with the management platform to optimise the promotion and development activities of the members of an established Energy Community with just a few clicks.
>> More information about Energy Community Promoter
How does MAPS Digital Energy Community work?
MAPS Energy Academy online training events offer the opportunity to get a live insight into all the features and functionalities of our solutions and learn how to use them to the fullest.
The events take place online after registration and are aimed both at existing customers who want to stay up-to-date on product developments and at those who are considering new tools and want to understand how to expand their business.
To register for upcoming events and see MAPS Digital Energy Community live, please visit the Energy Academy section.
>> More information about the upcoming MAPS Energy Academy events
