RENEWABLE ENERGY COMMUNITIES IN ITALY: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The current restructuring of energy systems, also due to the liberalization of the energy market and the implementation of renewable energies, proceeded along two pillars: on the one hand, the possibility of more economic efficiency due to the market mechanisms; and on the other hand, the environmental and social benefits, related to the increased use of clean energy that, as it is locally co-produced and co-distributed, implies an enhanced participation of "so-called" prosumers. In this context, energy communities are uncritically presented as "smart," that graft harmoniously onto market mechanisms. However, empirical research is showing the several open issues affecting the implementation of energy communities, which are the objectives of our analysis and can be summarized in at least three aspects: - Relationships between RECs and the energy markets. - Role of public incentives in shaping the new energy market and the emerging "organizational" fashions associated with it. - Ambiguity of the concept of "energy community" and of a "participation" that is increasingly mediated by a technological infrastructure and that paradoxically appears highly individualized. We are carrying out comparative research on emerging energy communities in Sicily, Sardinia, Campania and Trentino-Alto Adige based on selected case studies. The methods used to collect data and information are mainly qualitative: semi-structured interviews with the stakeholders of the energy sector and promoters of RECs; socio-ethnographic observation. Through a critical perspective, the article will explore the differences between these two REC models and the implications for territories.