How energy communities could redefine the collective energy production paradigm in the European energy market
The environmental unsustainability of the system we are living in has been highlighted by various multidisciplinary researches. This calls for the consideration of new perspectives and interconnected visions to address the ongoing ecological crisis. The ecological transition called for by governments, international agendas and local communities around the world cannot therefore be separated from an interrelated and interdisciplinary analysis that can consider not only the environmental externalities but also the social ones created by the current economic system. Among the solutions being considered, energy communities are an important case study: several realities – urban and rural – are betting on this model for a sustainable future.
Between energy poverty and environmental crisis
The negative consequences are not only environmental. This is explained by the Eco-Welfare research group of the University of Trieste, which is studying the interconnections between the climate crisis and the current social crisis.[1] According to this research perspective, the designated model of ecological modernisation focuses only on growth and technological innovation as vectors for achieving ecological transition, but brings with it the question of insurmountable environmental limits and the threshold below which no human being should live.[2]
Already in 2009, the debate on vulnerable consumers in relation to Directives 2009/72/EC and 2009/73/EC was opened in Europe, and the discourse on poverty began to be associated with energy consumption. In spite of this, energy poverty is a phenomenon that still remains under-researched. In 2022, 4.7 million people in Italy missed the payment of at least one bill, and 3.3 million declared that they would not be able to pay in case of further price increases. Energy poverty is defined in the National Energy Strategy as ‘the difficulty of purchasing a minimum basket of energy goods and services’. It occurs when a household cannot afford to pay for the electricity or gas needed to adequately heat or light its home.[3]
All in all, the uncomfortable combination of the post-pandemic recovery and the war scenario between Russia and Ukraine, with consequences in the export of natural gas from Russia to the EU, emphasised the increasing difficulty for households to meet energy expenses for their domestic consumption.[4]
What is an energy community?
The first experiences of communities date back to the early 20th century, to the establishment of historical cooperatives in isolated and rural geographical areas (thus hardly served by the grid operator) in Italy, Germany and Spain.[5] With the development of the first wind energy cooperatives in Denmark in the 1970s, the phenomenon of energy communities was first associated with the development and implementation of renewable energy.[6]
What is intended? We refer to a coalition of users who, through voluntary adherence to a contract, work together to produce, consume and manage energy through one or more local energy facilities. Despite their different types and management methods, ECs share the common goal of providing renewable energy at affordable prices for the community living there.
In Italy, energy communities have been introduced and regulated by the European Renewable Energy Directive 2018/2001/EU (RED II) and Directive 944/2019 (IEM) transposed into the Italian legislative system by Law no.8 of 2020. Energy communities can be defined as autonomous legal entities, established or formed by citizens, legal entities, cooperatives or associations, whose main purpose is to provide socio-economic, environmental or climate benefits to their members or to the territory in which they operate.[7]
The National Recovery and Resilience Plan (‘PNRR’) allocates EUR 2.2 billion for the promotion of energy communities in municipalities with less than five thousand inhabitants, to boost development and mitigate situations of economic vulnerability. The goal – but the process has yet to start – is to arrive by June 2026 with at least 2000 MW of installed renewable capacity and a production of 2500 GWh.[8]
Why does the energy community embody a new paradigm of energy production?
The ‘organisational innovation model’ typical of Energy Communities is based first and foremost on collaboration between users and on governance and ownership models that are different from those usually adopted by traditional companies.[9] This is the first sign that the paradigm on which this model is based is certainly an alternative to the more widespread model, characterised by centralised production and, consequently, a greater concentration of power in the hands of energy producers. As emphasised by a research conducted in collaboration between LUISS and ENEA, “Decentralisation and localisation of production plants rise in this sense to characterising elements of the CE phenomenon.”[10]
At the same time, the development of a capillary system of energy production would also favour the development of shorter production and supply chains, which favour not only greater energy security but also a lower environmental impact.[11]
In order to conceptually frame the paradigm shift we might be facing, the vision of energy that ECs can promote is central. Indeed, the idea promoted is that of energy as a common good, as defined by Nobel Prize winner for economics (2009) Elinor Ostrom of commons, as ‘collectively governed resources’.
This vision would legitimise solutions based on institutions for collective action, founded on cooperation between users. Such cooperation would then lead the users of the shared resource to devise, design and monitor the rules for its governance.
The emergence and spread of energy communities shows that even in the energy field, in the same way as in other domains such as agri-food chains, there is slowly a move towards a paradigm shift that puts into practice the idea of alternative management of resources, be they food or energy.
This alternative model, it seems, is more necessary than ever, not only from an economic and environmental point of view, but also to address problems such as energy poverty and rural depopulation. This obviously calls for building connections between social and environmental policies that take into account the needs of communities, improving the living conditions of inhabitants and the vulnerable groups.
[1] To know more on the topic: https://www2.units.it/ecowelfare/.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Alice Facchini, La povertà energetica si abbatte su chi è già in difficoltà, Internazionale online. 2023. Available: https://www.internazionale.it/essenziale/notizie/alice-facchini/2023/07/31/poverta-energetica-bollette-famiglie.
[4] Giovanni Carrosio, Lorenzo De Vidovich, Povertà energetica tra welfare e ambiente, università degli studi di Trieste. Available: https://www2.units.it/ecowelfare/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/PE-TS_report-finale.pdf.
[5] Capellán-Pérez, I., Campos-Celador, Á., & Terés-Zubiaga, J. (2018). Renewable Energy Cooperatives as an instrument towards the energy transition in Spain. Energy Policy, 123(September), 215–229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.08.064; Yildiz, Ö., Rommel, J., Debor, S., Holstenkamp, L., Mey, F., Müller, J. R., Radtke, J., & Rognli, J. (2015). Renewable energy cooperatives as gatekeepers or facilitators? Recent developments in Germany and a multidisciplinary research agenda. Energy Research and Social Science, 6, 59–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2014.12.001.
[6] Iaione, C., Nuzzo, A., De Nictolis, E., Piselli, R., Kappler, L., Piperno, A., & Aquili, A. (2021). Energy Communities: prototipazione sperimentale del modello giuridico-economico delle comunità energetiche. Disponibile:
[7] Art. 2, par. 1, n. 11 della direttiva 2019/944/UE.
[8] Marco dell’Aguzzo, A che punto sono le comunità energetiche in Italia, Wired Italia. Disponibile: https://www.wired.it/article/comunita-energetiche-italia-pnrr/.
[9] Iaione, C., Nuzzo, A., De Nictolis, E., Piselli, R., Kappler, L., Piperno, A., & Aquili, A. (2021). Energy Communities: prototipazione sperimentale del modello giuridico-economico delle comunità energetiche.
[10] Ibid., p. 17.
[11] il Sole 24ore, Verso un anno all’insegna di catene corte, innovazione e sicurezza energetica. Disponibile: https://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/verso-anno-all-insegna-catene-corte-innovazione-e-sicurezza-energetica-AE71gVQC