Prepared by Energy Team
European Union, as of 2019, has included Energy Communities (the “ECs”) among the planned actions for the energy transition in the Clean Energy Package (CEP).
In particular, the main regulatory references have been the Renewable Energy Directive (EU Directive 2018/2001 or alternatively the “RED II”) and the Internal Electricity Market Directive (EU Directive 2019/944).
Although the deadlines for these directives’ national transposition have not been met, the transposition process has been initiated through the European Delegation Law 2019-2020, which was finally approved on 20 April 2021.
The so-called “Decreto Milleproroghe 2019” approved approximately the ECs and awaiting the transposition of the RED II Directive along with self-consumer communities, are starting their affirmation, after Piemonte Region, Liguria Region, Apulia Region, Calabria Region, Campania Region, Marche Region and Lazio Region, also in Veneto Region.
Through the Veneto Region’s legislative draft (DGR 17/DDL of 20 July 2021 – Draft Law n. 82) (the “Veneto Draft Law”), the regional government intends to overcome, as stated in the act, “the use of oil and its derivatives” to promote “the production and exchange” of energy from renewable sources, as well as new forms of efficiency.
The Veneto Draft Law provides, inter alia, an allocation of Euro 550,000.00 and specifies that ECs:
- will be able to share the generation and consumption of energy among their respective members;
- may participate in the distribution, supply, consumption, aggregation, storage of energy, energy efficiency services, or provide other energy services to the same members or associates, with the goal of providing environmental, economic or social benefits at the community level to its members or the local areas in which it operates;
- may enter into agreements with ARERA, in order to optimize the networks’ management and use and the energy markets’ non-discriminatory access;
- will have to produce at least 60% of the energy for self-consumption.
The Veneto Draft Law also establishes a round table in which the main market operators (distributors, ANCI, environmental and trade associations) will be involved in order to work together towards the goal of reducing regional consumption.
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