Renewable Energy Community (REC) for the Circular Economy (CE) Transition: a Definition of Circular REC Business Model in the Italian Context

Recent European (EU) regulations have introduced the concept of Energy Communities (ECs), which includes a series of initiatives aimed at stimulating the shared use of renewable energy sources among natural persons, firms, and local entities. In the paper, I propose the alignment among ECs and circular economy (CE) principles, with a specific reference to renewable energy communities (RECs). This specific type of EC, in fact, presents some CEaligned characteristics compared to other kinds of ECs, e. g., higher percentage of renewable energy sources to be compulsory included in the community. As other EU States, Italy has recently introduced specific regulations regarding RECs, to stimulate their application at a national level. However, the lack of application models, and the presence of specific contextual factors actually limit the implementation of those communities in the country. Through the alignment of EC conceptualization with CE, the paper offers a declination of REC definition and application, to contribute to the identification of environmental, economic, and social aspects of RECs as well as REC promotion. In addition, the study identifies actual Italian-level barriers for REC implementation, and some proposals to overcome them, developed in the context of a longitudinal research project of an Italian university.