One of the objectives for which the renewable energy community concept was introduced is to limit the withdrawal (and input) of electricity by a consortium of users, i.e., to make them as independent as possible from the distribution grid. This is done by using the sources of flexibility already present in the various users, such as storage systems, and loads that can be totally or partially deferred in time (e.g., washing machines, tumble dryers, HVAC systems).

In the I-NERGY Project, the performance of the energy community is increased by creating a platform where various innovative services are integrated: a digital twin of the electricity grid allows real-time visualization of consumption and generation, as well as current flows in each line; a forecasting tool informs the user of the generation and consumption trends over time, while also taking weather conditions into account. Based on this data, grid operations can be optimized by making the most of the area's flexible resources and maximizing the self-consumption of local RES.

Finally, the use of smart contracts and transitions via blockchain is another tool being tested in the Terni Pilot, in central Italy to manage transitions within the energy community.

The transition of the energy system underway needs to make end consumers aware and active and exploit the resources distributed in the territory: the energy communities serve precisely for this purpose and through careful experimentation of the most suitable technologies and close collaboration with citizens (150 end users of Terni have been involved in the activities of this project) through the I-NERGY project we try to make this transition more effective and rapid.

[1] European Commission (2021a). Delivering the European green deal. https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal/delivering-european-green-deal_en.