The Development of Renewable Energy Communities in the Italian context: a methodology for the engagement of the end-users

Abstract

To date, the development and diffusion of Renewable Energy Community (RECs) in the Italian territory is limited by two main factors; one is the absence of definitive and clear national regulations and, the second is the difficulty in engaging the RECs end-users. While the first problem will be soon solved with the transposition of the Italian Legislative Decree No. 199, the second still needs a solution. Due to different issues, private energy companies, ESCos, municipalities, cooperatives, and other subjects interested in developing RECs are nowadays experiencing difficulties in engaging end-users to take part in RECs and make them actively participate in their activities. The present dissertation aims to define which are the best practices, tools and strategies to be used by any REC developer to engage the end- users to participate in RECs. This is done by first investigating the REC state of the art and their characteristics, and then, reviewing the theory of project management and the existing practices of stakeholder engagement; this information is then applied to the context of the development of RECs to answer the research problem. The dissertation shows that end-users have a relevant impact on the development of RECs and it provides the reader with a methodology organized into three phases (REC end-users identification, REC end-users collection, and REC end-users involvement) made of tools, best practices, and strategies, to be used by any REC developer to mitigate the impacts of REC end- users and facilitate the process of development of the RECs.

Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::7 - Energia Assequible i No Contaminant