On the role of Renewable Energy Communities in the clean energy transition of Lazio Region, Italy

The Clean Energy Transition roadmap for EU is based on a comprehensive strategy that includes a series of actions towards net-zero CO2 emissions. In particular, the energy sector is the one with the most challenging perspectives, and relies on a combination of RES, nuclear power, green hydrogen, thermal and electric storage systems to achieve carbon neutrality. In this context, Renewable Energy Communities (REC) are considered a key element to increase the share of renewables in the power mix while raising citizen awareness about power generation, energy price and the impact of fossil fuels on climate change. Starting from the RED II directive of 2018 and the legislative package “Clean energy for all Europeans” of 2019 the EU developed guidelines that promoted RECs. Different member states included in their legislation actions to promote RECs, following pre-existing implementations or best-practices, adapting the EU guidelines. In this manuscript we provide a comparison between different legislative actions that have been implemented by different EU members and then focus on the Italian experience, that started with the first actions identified by Milleproroghe Decree of 2020. Given the inherent local aspects of RECs, the second part of the manuscript will also provide a comparison of actions carried out by regional governments in Italy to seed the formation of RECs. In fact, after more than one year, several differences arose among Italian regions, in part due to lack of coordination, but mostly to the necessity of implementing the national legislation within the regional context. Finally in the third part of the manuscript the activity that Regione Lazio (the region with Rome) is carrying out together with DIMA-Sapienza will be discussed, focusing on the challenges of implementing a new energy-sharing model within the national legislation, the impact on the territory and people met during 50+ public meetings and giving a comparative analysis of the energy and financial performance of the 64 RECs that answered the first call for feasibility studies issued by Regione Lazio. The analysis of RECs is carried out with pyRECS, an in-house open-source tool developed by DIMA and tailored to the current incentive scheme for RECs in Italy.