2023-11-09 13:13:56
The new draft of the Pniec requires our country to accelerate the energy transition and the reduction in the use of fossil fuels. But the undertaking is difficult, if not impossible, under current conditions because a complete and clear regulatory framework is missing, with targeted resources and incentives. The new r reiterates itcontribution to the electricity market of the Energy&Strategy of the School of Management of the Polytechnic of Milan which exposed Italy’s immaturity with respect to the objectives set for both 2030 and 2050 by the new National Energy and Climate Plan (Pniec): within eight years, in fact, we will have to cut emissions by more than 24% with a gross final energy consumption reduced by 12% and produced by double the percentage compared to the current one from renewable sources. However, electricity demand is expected to increase by 6%.
The study highlights that the draft of the new version of the Pniec envisages a significant increase also with respect to the generation capacity from renewables (approximately +40%), but the overall power installed by Fer has increased slowly in recent years and at the end of 2022 it was equal to approximately 64 GW (+5% compared to 2021). Furthermore, explicit objectives have not been defined in terms of the storage capacity necessary to accompany the transformation of the electricity system: the 2019 edition spoke of around 10 GW (between centralized and distributed).
“The delay accumulated by our country in the transition towards a sustainable energy system requires a more robust and coordinated commitment, in particular for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through the promotion of renewable energy and the improvement of energy efficiency”, he confirms Simone Franzò, scientific director of the Observatory. “In this context – he adds – it is therefore fundamental toregulatory interventionstarting from the new Integrated text of electricity dispatching (Tide)with which we want to make the participation of distributed resources structural in Italy – both from the point of view of generation and demand, organized within virtual aggregates – in the provision of ancillary services”.
To better understand the problem, Franzò brings two concrete examples: “With resolution 300/2017, Italy began experimenting to expand the entities capable of providing network services, virtually aggregated within the so-called Grapes (Mixed enabled virtual units which, through an aggregator, can modulate their production and consumption of electricity, effectively representing a virtual generation/consumption plant, ed.). The pilot project showed both the potential and, in some cases, the reliability problems of the resources involved. Tide is part of this path of innovation, aiming to integrate experiments into the general framework of dispatching”.
Without the Tide, therefore, it is difficult to move forward. The same can be said, broadening the discussion, for the world ofcollective self-consumption. “Resolution 727/2022/R/eel has completed the regulatory panorama relating to this area but Italy is, to date, still waiting for the precise definition of some aspects, primarily the incentives: this uncertainty has created a situation of stalemate, as emerges from the mapping of the initiatives – well below expected estimates, despite the great potential – and from the interviews with operators and end users”, underlines Franzò.
In fact, with resolution 727/2022/R/eel the regulatory framework was completed, but the legislation on Energy Communities is incomplete, in particular with regards to Mase decree which defines the incentive mechanisms. The projects to date have largely been carried out in Northern Italy, with the exception of Sicily, and promoted mainly by Municipalities through national and European funds. The size of the systems is heterogeneous, generally in the order of a few tens of kW.
As emerges from the report, among the projects currently implemented, the first initiatives observed in Italy concern energy communities made up of residential users, while the Pmi they are not yet involved in a widespread way, above all due to the transitional rules defined by Milleproproghe Decree. Once the process to expand the perimeter of the energy communities has been completed, we can expect the arrival of large users and plants that could reach 1 MW in size, leading to the birth of two main clusters: Cers based on residential users (with longer pay back times and social and community objectives) e Cers based on industrial users (interested in environmental sustainability but also in economic benefits, relevant for large sizes), without excluding possible mixed configurations.
Meanwhile, to date in Italy, the study finds that there are approximately 85 configurations in collective self-consumption: 61 self-consumer groups and 24 energy communities. Considering the initiatives still in the planning phase, the total reaches 198 initiatives, 6 times more than the 33 mapped in 2021 but considerably below the expected estimates, precisely due to the regulatory delay. The study provides that the incentives established in the new proposal of the Mase decree of 23 February 2023, together with funds allocated by the Pnrr (2.2 billion euros in capital account intended for municipalities under 5,000 inhabitants), would allow the installation – through the Cers – of a renewable power (starting from photovoltaic) equal to approximately 7 GW in 5 years, a decidedly challenging objective when compared to the current situation and the targets missed so far. “However, although the configurations already in the operational phase are limited to date, the desire to seize this new opportunity for end customers and businesses is evident”, concludes the study.
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