Community energy initiatives are a concrete tool to support territories in the energy transition process, and although many actors are involved in this process, small municipalities can also play an important role. ANCI Lombardia and AnciLab organize a series of meetings aimed primarily at municipalities with fewer than 5000 inhabitants to introduce and make community energy initiatives (CEIs) feasible.
A municipality embarking on the path to establishing a CEI must act with full awareness: the main objective is to “provide environmental, economic, or social benefits (…) to its members or to the local areas in which the community operates, and not to make financial profits” (Legislative Decree November 8, 2021, n. 199 art.31, lett. a). By participating in the workshops, administrations will be able to identify resources and opportunities and trigger virtuous processes to play an active role in promoting cultural change in their communities.
On the resources front, we await the upcoming publication of the PNRR calls for proposals, which introduce specific support for the creation of community energy initiatives in small municipalities. The Lombardy Region has published an “Expression of Interest for the presentation of projects of Renewable Energy Communities” aimed at collecting knowledge of the potential of the Lombardy region for the development of communities for the generation and sharing of electric and thermal energy from renewable sources. Based on the results of the analysis and the potential emerging from the applications proposed in this first phase, a financial support action will subsequently be developed for participating municipalities, to be implemented through a specific regional government provision.
The R&D laboratory on community energy initiatives aims to define governance relationships between municipal and supra-municipal entities to provide support for the dissemination of CEIs.
AnciLab has initiated support activities for municipalities.
At the end of 2022, AnciLab embarked on a support journey for municipalities intending to develop a Community Energy Initiative (CEI) within their territory. 60 Lombardian local authorities participated in the training seminars organized across the region.
Currently, AnciLab is collaborating with ANCI Lombardia and the Lombardy Region’s Local Energy Community (CERL) to propose a LIFE project. This project aims to provide initiatives to support over 500 Lombardian municipalities that have responded to the regional expression of interest.
Training AnciLab on Energy Communities
Municipalities and Energy Communities: A Challenge for a Sustainable Future
