According to the Legambiente report Renewables Communities 2021, in Italy there are twenty or so Renewable Energy Communities already active or in the process of being activated, spread across the country, while a further seven are in the pipeline. Plants for self-production are for the most part between 20 and 60 kW. Energy Communities are made up of municipal bodies, households, private businesses, public institutions, cooperatives and even farms – for example, the first Agricultural Energy Community set up in Ragusa with support from Enel. Exponential growth in the number of Energy Communities is predicted to occur in the near future. A study by the Politecnico di Milano (Electricity Market Report) estimates that by 2025 Italian energy communities will number around 40,000 and will involve around 1.2 million households, 200,000 offices and 10,000 SMEs. In Europe, a federation of energy cooperatives exists that brings together around 1,900 for a total of more than 1.2 million citizens. According to a study by the European Union’s Joint Research Center in 2020, the countries with the highest number of Energy Communities are: Germany (with 1,750 Energy Communities), followed by Denmark (700) and the Netherlands (500). Examples of Energy Communities around the world In Great Britain there are more than 420 Energy Communities. The Energy Community on the Isles of Scilly, for example, is experimenting with marine energy. In Brooklyn, New York, citizens and shopkeepers that take part in the local Energy Community can purchase and sell renewable energy on an app. In Australia, where around 100 Energy Communities now operate, the first to be established was in Hepburn Wind, which began to generate energy in 2011. In Japan, the enerugīkomyuniti are widespread, exploiting mainly solar energy.
