Energy Communities: Technical, Legislative, Organizational, and Planning Features

With the constant demographic growth and the consequently economic development,\r\nthe energy demand, especially in urbanized contexts, is higher every day. Worldwide the use of\r\nfossil fuels covers almost the 80% of the entire energy needs. In European Union (EU), 2020\r\nrepresents a watershed: for the first-time renewables were the main source for electricity. In Italy\r\nthe latest surveys demonstrate an increase in the use of alternative energy sources. European\r\nlegislative framework highlights the importance of these new trends encouraging (and imposing)\r\nthe use of renewables. The necessity to become more proactive in the energy production-\r\nconsumption process and in the achievement of sustainability targets brings people to create\r\nEnergy Communities (ECs) to manage their own energy supply chain. Authors present an\r\noverview on the main legislative framework in EU and Italy in relation to EC analyzing the energy\r\nconsumption, the electricity and heat energy production potentiality, and the energy balance in a\r\nportion of an Italian middle-size city in Milan metropolitan area. Moreover, they underline the\r\ntechnical, regulatory and planning possibility to achieve energy independence, exchanging energy\r\namong the selected urban district when there is surplus in production. Lastly, authors underline the\r\nstrengths and barriers to the development of EC.