Optimal Design of Energy Communities in the Italian Regulatory Framework

Renewable Energy Communities are gaining a lot of interest in Italy, due to the forthcoming final implementation of RED II and IEM EU directives into the national regulation framework. The crucial point of renewable energy communities is the possibility to share the energy produced by the members of the scheme: this aspect will impact cash flows of the entire energy project, so affecting the optimal design of the renewable energy generation systems. In light of this, the paper presents a method to optimal design a collective energy project and shows the results of its application to a real world pilot project in a little village in northern Italy. Several case studies have been considered such that the results take into account the physical configuration of the community.