The Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) are emerging as an innovative solution to promote the use of renewable energy in local communities, reduce carbon emissions and actively involve citizens in the energy transition. Sotacarbo firmly believes in the role of renewable energy communities for an ever-increasing sustainable future. Project Auree (Urban Energy Abacus of Buildings), funded by the National Electrical System Research, entails a series of activities by Sotacarbo to raise awareness and to involve citizens, businesses and local administrations to promote new opportunities to produce and consume energy in a different, beneficial way in the collective interest.

A key role in the dissemination of energy communities is played by municipalities, and it is their perspective and their experience that is the focus of several meetings within the project led by Sotacarbo. The first meeting is with Marco Sideri, mayor of Ussaramanna, a small village of about 600 residents in the province of South Sardinia, which started in January 2021 the creation of an energy community from renewable sources on its territory.

The initiative, which didn’t require direct funding from citizens, aims to reduce the energy bills of the participants. The wide participation shows the growing interest of local communities in sustainable energy models, motivated both by economic benefits and by the desire to contribute to the ecological transition. Currently, Ussaramanna represents one of the two active energy communities at regional level, setting a virtuous example of how small municipalities can play a key role in the energy transition.

The project was started in 2020, during the pandemic, a time in which it was crucial to rebuild the social fabric and strengthen the sense of community. Our primary motivation was to create a virtuous cooperation between the municipality, the citizens and the local businesses to better utilize the energy produced in our territory. With the introduction of favorable regulations, we immediately started a technical-economic feasibility study and involved the community in ensuring economic savings through decreased utility bills, as well as to promote environmental sustainability.

Yes, the main difficulties were bureaucratic. We chose to establish a third sector association, which allowed us to move [through the process] with more agility and limit costs. Since January 2021, we have completed the installation of the systems in around 10-11 months, which is a remarkable result for an experimental project. However, we faced delays due to connection procedures with entities such as Enel Distribuzione and the Gestore dei Servizi Energetici (GSE), which were further complicated by constant regulatory changes and unclear interpretations of new laws.

Funding for the project was secured through 100.000 euros of ministerial funds dedicated to energy efficiency, supplemented by 20-25.000 euros of the municipality’s own resources. This funding mix ensured a good economic foundation for the kick-start of our initiative.

We started with 60 members, including 55 private citizens, four companies and the municipality itself, initially positioning us as the largest energy community in Italy. Although there have been some changes among the members, the total number has remained unaltered.

We have chosen to invest in photovoltaics, installing 60 kW on school roofs and, subsequently, another 11 kW in the municipal warehouse, reaching a total of 71 kW. Currently, we don’t have any storage systems, but we are planning to develop them to increase local self-consumption and to cover nighttime energy demands. Expanding production capacity is a key objective for the future of the energy community.

Citizens showed a strong interest, although initially many of them weren’t informed on the topic. We organized public meetings and opened information points with the support of our technical partner “Ènostra” to explain the project in detail. Initially, we collected about 130 applications out of 250 available users. The first operative group consisted of 60 users belonging to the same secondary electrical substation, but many other citizens, who had shown interest from the start, are waiting for the opportunity to join the community. As I said, expansion is one of our priorities.

From an environmental perspective, our energy community has enabled a reduction of CO2 emissions by approximately 62 tons per year. Although the number might seem small, it is significant for a small community like ours. A larger application of energy communities would have a much larger environmental impact. Moreover, energy communities help decrease the load on the power grid during peak consumption, improving overall energy efficiency. Economically, we predicted savings of around 120 euros per year for each user, but regulations later clarified that only incentives for shared energy can be distributed among the members, reducing the average saving of 70 euros or so. Despite the lower payback than originally expected, the project remains beneficial.

Socially, the energy community has eased dialogue among citizens, promoting better awareness of climate change and the importance of renewable energy. Citizens have become more aware of the necessity to adopt sustainable behavior and invest in clean energy.

We were connected to the grid in January 2023 and started receiving the incentives in July. Incentives are distributed in part equally among all members and in part based on individual consumption, to avoid that users with higher consumption fully absorb the economic benefits. This balanced distribution system guarantees equity and incentivizes responsible consumption behavior.

Monitoring is primarily done through community assemblies, where we discuss the results, satisfaction of the members and address any critical issues. Active participation in the assemblies, which are held 2-3 times a year, is an indication of good involvement. In addition, thanks to the European project Life Loop, we have installed, for each user, a “smart meter”, a smart device to monitor energy consumption. Although smart meters should theoretically provide quarterly consumption data, these are often not accessible, so we had to rely on alternative systems to ensure constant and accurate monitoring.

We want to expand the energy community by involving the municipalities of Villanovaforru and Siddi, with the goal of creating an inter-municipal energy community. This expansion would increase critical mass and operational efficiency. We are considering transforming the association into a cooperative, which would allow more autonomous management and a more efficient distribution of incentives. The objective is to reduce dependency on public subsidies, ensuring long term sustainability.

Work with competent and ethically committed technical partners. It is crucial to believe in the project and clearly communicate its benefits to the citizens. Although bureaucracy can be a challenge, the creation of an energy community is relatively simple. Political will is essential, as is greater support as state and regional level. It is crucial to establish a business model that involves private capital, making it worthwhile for citizens to invest in energy communities rather than in individual plants. The municipality should act as a promoter, but it is desirable that renewable energy communities become self-sufficient in the future.