Veronica Pitea, President of ACEPER (Association of Renewable Energy Consumers and Producers), which gathers 10,000 renewable energy production plants representing over 7,000 members with a total installed capacity exceeding 2 GWp, has no doubts: “A positive example is certainly the municipality of Magliano Alpi in Piedmont, the first Energy Community in Italy established following the 2020 ‘Milleproroghe’ decree. It’s a small reality, but truly an excellence in renewable energy in Italy. This shows that anyone can achieve certain results, regardless of the North-South divide or the size of the city. It all depends on how the communities are managed,” Pitea continues. “Often in Italy, they are poorly managed due to a lack of information and maintenance.

The State bears some responsibility because there is a significant delay in the release of the ‘CER – Renewable Energy Communities’ decree, which was supposed to be implemented last year, but we are still waiting for it. Therefore, it’s not about a lack of efficiency on the part of the public administration, but rather a lack of information reaching them and, especially, a lack of implementing decrees from the Government. As many as 63 municipalities are ready to launch the CER project, and ACEPER also has hundreds of pre-appointments ready. However, it remains to be seen how many of these will turn into solid realities because first, we need to understand how to proceed, based on which criteria. The market in general is at a standstill because many companies are waiting for the PNRR tenders: how much will be allocated for energy efficiency in general and, subsequently, how much specifically for CERs?”