Renewable energies and RECs

Economic, social and environmental development for the energy self-sufficiency of the area

The power of nature

Renewable energies, such as wind, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric, tidal and biomass, are clean and sustainable energy sources, which are potentially capable of solving various environmental and social issues as opposed to traditional fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas.

Their main impact, which everyone is aware of, is related to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, which are responsible for global warming and climate change.

Equally important is that they are not subject to depletion: unlike non-renewable fossil fuels, whose availability is limited.

Another advantage is the production cost, which over the next few years is likely to decrease as green technologies become more widespread, compared to the cost of fossil fuels that is expected to increase gradually as they become depleted.

Last but not least, renewable energies, by their very nature, can contribute to reducing energy dependence on countries with fossil fuel reserves, with the geo-political implications this implies.

Lastly, another positive aspect of renewable energies is the potential economic impact linked to the development of local economies and the creation of new jobs in the supply chain of the technologies required for their use.

Renewable Energy and RECs

Renewable Energy Communities (RECs)

A Renewable Energy Community (REC) is an open association of citizens, businesses, public administrations or SMEs that voluntarily decide to join together to acquire, and share, one or more installations for the production of electricity from renewable sources with the aim of self-consumption.

What are the advantages?

  • The possibility of achieving energy cost savings by sharing the economic benefits of self-consumption of the energy produced directly within the community: revenue from the energy fed into the grid; revenue from the incentives for energy fed into the grid and self-consumed by the members of the REC (social benefit with the redistribution of revenues).
  • Increased electricity production from renewable sources (environmental and territorial benefit).
  • Increased awareness of the intelligent use of electricity, from a consumer -‘passive subject’ to a prosumer – ‘active subject, who participates in production’.

The steps involved in the implementation and management of the REC are:

  1. Scouting: Verification of the interest in setting up an Energy Community among subjects located in the same geographical area – under the same primary distribution station.
  2. Establishment of the Community: the interested parties set up the REC, a legal entity that must be a non-profit organisation, both as a profit of the members and as a profit-seeking entity of the REC. Distributing an economic benefit envisaged by the mechanism is not considered profit making.
  3. Plant construction: construction, or inclusion, of one or more renewable energy production plants financed directly by the members or a third party (e.g. an ESCO company)
  4. Access to incentives: once Energy Community starts operation, it applies for the incentives related to self-consumed energy, which are paid by the GSE.
  5. Distribution of benefits: The Energy Community distributes the benefits among the members, through the application of an agreed allocation algorithm, or uses the revenues for other economic, social and/or environmental purposes.

Note: each member of the REC continues to pay for electricity to its supplier, there is no direct compensation in the invoice for his/her portion of consumption eligible for self-consumption.

Gemmo for RECs

Gemmo SpA supports the REC and its members from a technical-legal point of view, from the initial stages of defining the perimeter within which the consumers have to be located up to the establishment of the legal entity and the actual operational management of the facilities.

We provide the community with effective tools to promote itself and grow over time in a sustainable manner, aiming to achieve energy self-sufficiency in the area.

We support RECs by:

  • Construction of new photovoltaic, mini wind, mini hydroelectric RES plants;
  • Establishment of the REC, with legal support to define the statutes, regulations, the voting system, the contract of assignment;
  • Technological tools for operational management.