December 202319Energy communities therefore promote energy efficiency and help end-users to reduce their energy bills, effectively fighting energy poverty, which remains a major challenge to be further addressed in the EU, especially in vulnerable local communities. According to Eurostat's figures, about 8 percent of the EU population was unable to keep their homes adequately warm in 2020.The Future of Energy GenerationAccording to the Joint Research Centre's (JRC) dedicated report for the European Commission, by 2020 there were around 3500 renewable energy communities in Europe, mainly located in North-Western Europe. Looking into the future, the growth forecasts of energy communities are very promising: recent studies have estimated that by 2030 more than 50 GW of wind power and more than 50 GW of solar power could be owned by energy communities, representing respectively 17 and 21 percent of total installed capacity. Furthermore, it is estimated that by 2050 around 37 percent of all EU households will take part in energy communities and they will produce up to 45 percent of the entire EU's renewable electricity. Energy communities are thus shaping up as a crucial tool so that the transition we are experiencing is not only an energy transition. It is also a `'just transition'', shifting from the corporate, centralized fossil fuel generation to one that is distributed, customer centric with acknowledgement of an extra premium for these are able to leverage on aggregation. A unity is strength and in this cases the difference.QUICK BYTESThe International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts a surge in global clean energy investment in 2023, reaching approximately USD 1.2 trillion. This growth is attributed to the recovery from the pandemic and efforts to address the global energy crisis. The report highlights increased momentum in deploying clean energy technologies, notably amidst volatility in fossil fuel markets due to certain geopolitical events.The Italian SituationAlthough in 2022 there were only 35 Italian RECs in operation, lagging behind nations with more ready and established regulations such as Denmark where Energy Communities have been a reality since the 1980s, Italy is now undergoing a period of strong transformation. Following the path laid out by the European directive, Italy is slowly closing the gap by introducing legislation and incentives, whose final approval is awaited, that will make the ground fertile for Energy Communities. Indeed, exponential growth is predicted to occur in the near future: a study by the Politecnico di Milano estimates that by 2025 Italian energy communities will number around 40,000 and will involve around 1.2 million households, 200,000 offices and 10,000 SMEs.
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