Energy self-consumers and renewable energy communities in Italy: New actors of the electric power systems.

The new European Directive RED-II on the promotion of the use of renewable energy sources has introduced the concept of the Renewable Energy Community. This new entity has the potential to change the relations among end-users and the latter and the other actors of the energy sector. In particular, the electrical sector appears the most influenced by the implementation of this paradigm. Indeed, the need for self-consumption and for exploiting the full potential of renewable energy in a Renewable Energy Community influences how the end-users exchange energy with the power grid, the rules for their connection to the grid, the implementation of Demand Response and other energy management programs. For this reason, after a review of the existing legal framework, this paper investigates various aspects concerning the interaction of Renewable Energy Communities with the power system, highlighting what issues must still be addressed for a complete implementation of Renewable Energy Communities and their integration in the power system, with a focus on the Italian context. • Renewable Energy Communities and jointly acting renewables self-consumers appear as new actors in the electricity sector. • Regulation on self-consumption is presented and the international implementation experience are discussed. • Self-consumption schemes have the potential to impact in a significant way on the electric power system. • The evaluation of the shared electricity in various scenarios is discussed. • The application of the Blockchain technology to the REC model is debated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]