WTI Magazine #32    2014 May, 29
Author : buonenotizie.it      Translation by:

They are called Energy communities and are real communities territorially located - formed by companies, public administrations and citizens that can self-produce and consume energy in an intelligent way.

These are little known realities today which, with a total turnover of around € 29 billion, could not only bring important benefits to the Made in Italy system but can also achieve, by 2020, the number of 475.000 of them only in Italy.

This was revealed by a study carried out by Studio Ambrosetti and Politecnico di Milano and presented during the forum of the "Osservatorio Permanente sugli Usi Innovativi dell'Energia" (Permanent Observatory on Innovative Use of Energy) sponsored by GDF SUEZ, a company that aims to become leader in the energy transition and that, as stated by Aldo Chiarini, CEO of the multinational, in Italy "contributes to the evolution of the market to ensure competitiveness and security of supply".

The Energy communities will be condominiums, hospitals, shopping malls and so on, and will jointly and partly on their own share, produce and distribute energy. This, then, will be the starting point of the project for the creation of "smart cities".

The survey has also gathered the opinion of the Italian community in the energy field, revealing that more than 37% of the sample interviewed said that in the future they will be interested in participating in such projects to save on utility bills and to cause less environmental impact.

The Italian energy system is rapidly changing, and not for a decline in the demand due to the economic crisis. Engine of this change are in fact the progress and the development of energy efficiency solutions that focus on factors such as self producing, sharing, and reducing emissions.