Energy Communities: energy and economic development laboratories in the Tortona valleys

Clean Energy for All Europeans, Green Deal and Fit for 55 at European level and the Piano Nazionale Integrato per l’Energia e il Clima have identified essential decarbonisation goals that are achievable by broadening the audience of actors involved and the ability to innovate in terms of the evolution of products/services and production processes. In this sense, decentralised energy production technologies together with Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) and bottomup initiatives play a strategic role in the establishment of local energy systems. The objective of the paper is to illustrate these dynamisms within the territorial system, and the characteristics of local initiatives and RECs as means of energy transition and economic development.