A-Infos (en) Italy, Sicilia Libertaria: Cer Special - Shortcomings, delays and good examples: the CERs in Sicily (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

The Environmental Energy Plan of the Sicilian Region 2030 sets the 
objective of increasing energy production from renewable sources to 69% 
in 2030. According to the ARPA Sicily 2023 yearbook, a small but 
significant part of this percentage (1,220 megawatts of 2,320 megawatts 
of solar energy produced by 2030) will come from self-consumption plants 
and renewable energy communities (CER): groups of citizens, commercial 
activities, local public administrations and small and medium-sized 
enterprises that produce, consume and exchange energy from renewable 
sources produced by plants owned by one or more community entities.

CERs have the potential to revolutionize the relationship between 
community and energy, but require a long and complex process to become 
operational. In 2022, the Sicilian Region allocated almost 5 million 
euros for the preparation of the technical-economic feasibility studies 
preparatory to the establishment of the CERs to encourage local 
administrations to undertake this path. Regional funding, calibrated on 
the number of inhabitants, was mostly assigned to the cities of Palermo 
(63,398 euros) and Messina (33,196 euros). Followed by Syracuse (27,804 
euros), Ragusa (22,730 euros), Caltanissetta (20,867 euros), Agrigento 
(20,228 euros) and Enna (15,017 euros). Catania did not ask for it. In 
total 301 Municipalities have obtained the funds but, to date, few have 
managed to use them.

In the Municipality of Palermo, at the moment, the only CER close to 
implementation is located in Brancaccio and is promoted by a private 
company in the sustainable energy sector. In Messina a municipal CER 
project was started in 2021 in collaboration with Enel X and the 
Le.L.A.T association. (League for the Fight against Aids and Drug 
Addiction) in the popular Mangialupi district, on whose roofs 
photovoltaic panels have been installed. The project should also involve 
families from the neighborhood but it is not clear at what stage the 
works are or what has blocked the project so far. Furthermore, the 
councilor for the Ecological Transition of Messina, Francesco Caminiti, 
gave notice of other projects in collaboration with the Autonomous 
Institute of Social Housing, at the moment none of these have been 
started. In Catania the IACP is promoting a CER in the Nesima public 
housing complex, thanks to the financing of 29 million euros from the 
Complementary National Plan. For now, energy efficiency works have 
started but the CER has not been established. Fondazione con il Sud is 
developing two CERs in the eastern suburbs of Messina and in Regalbuto 
(EN) on the footprint of the CER Napoli Est on the outskirts of the 
Campania capital. In these cases, it is the foundation that makes funds 
and technical expertise available to build bottom-up energy transition 
paths.

Many smaller administrations have reported a lack of technical skills 
and staff to manage the flow of projects and the resulting reporting of 
community and regional funds. Others have relied on external 
technicians, who have been waiting for a long time for the implementing 
decree from the Ministry of the Environment, and now they must be able 
to respect the deadlines. The Municipalities that had previously 
equipped themselves with photovoltaic systems, at present, will not be 
able to make them available to the CERs. Still others have established 
CERs legally but must install the systems. The ministerial decree, which 
arrived only in January, provides funds of up to 40% to finance the 
systems, and only for municipalities under 5,000 inhabitants; therefore 
the other Municipalities will have to rely on the investment of the 
community itself, if there is capital available, on technical partners 
or wait for the tender worth 100 million announced by the Energy 
Department of the regional Department.

Many municipalities on the island, including Messina and the Madonie 
towns, had undertaken this path well before the regional tender with the 
collaboration of Enel X as contact person or, in the case of Blufi, as 
technical partner. In these cases, the municipal administrations entrust 
Enel X with the establishment and management of the CER. Although, in 
fact, large companies in the energy supply chain cannot join the CERs, 
unlike small and medium-sized enterprises, they can propose themselves 
as network managers by making their investment on GSE incentives. If on 
the one hand this operation ensures the progress of the project, on the 
other it reduces the decision-making capacity of the communities, the 
true strong point of the CERs. A CER capable of ensuring the balance 
between energy produced and consumed, aware of its own needs and capable 
of managing the value generated by the energy sold to the GSE, can 
reinvest this value in the development of its territory.
On the contrary, the establishment of a CER by third parties outside the 
community risks taking control of the territory away from the community 
that lives there.

The experiences of the towns of Ferla and Petralia Sottana demonstrate 
the transformative capabilities of a community aware of the management 
of its territory. In Ferla, thanks to the collaboration with the 
University of Catania, the first active CER on the island was born. 
Bills have dropped and the Municipality has saved around 30 thousand 
euros per year, which has been reinvested in community services. In 
Petralia Sottana the municipal political staff was fortunate to have the 
technical skills within its staff and was therefore able to use regional 
funds to create Energie D'alta Quota, a CER in the form of a cooperative 
with the ambition of participating in PNRR calls. These examples 
demonstrate that, although funds are necessary, the most important tool 
is the political will to bring together the necessary technical skills 
and in-depth knowledge of the community to fully develop the potential 
of CERs according to the specific needs of each territory.

Chiara Conte

http://sicilialibertaria.it
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