Renewable energy communities (CER): rules, incentives and the role of businesses

A renewable energy community (CER in Italian) is an autonomous legal entity whose members share the energy produced by renewable plants. Its main purpose is to provide environmental, economic or social benefits to the community, not to make financial profits. The rules are in the CACER Decree (Ministerial Decree no. 414 of 7 December 2023, in force since 24 January 2024), in ARERA's TIAD (Resolution 727/2022/R/eel) and in the GSE Operating Rules, updated on 16 July 2025.

How it works

Sharing is virtual: each member keeps its own supply contract, can choose its supplier and can leave at any time. Shared energy is, for every hour, the lower of the energy fed into the grid by the plants and the energy withdrawn by the members. Plants and withdrawal points must be located in the area of the same primary substation, which can be checked on the GSE interactive map.

The incentive tariff

On shared energy GSE pays a premium tariff, made up of a fixed part and a variable part linked to the zonal price of energy.

For photovoltaics, 4 €/MWh is added in the regions of central Italy and 10 €/MWh in those of the North. On top of this comes the valorisation contribution defined by ARERA, linked to network tariffs. Plants above 1 MW receive only the latter. As a rule the tariff is reduced if the plant has received a capital grant.

NRRP grant: what remains

The non-repayable grant of up to 40% of eligible costs was reserved for plants in municipalities with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants; Ministerial Decree no. 127 of 16 May 2025 raised the threshold to 50,000. Applications closed on 30 November 2025. Decree-Law 19/2026 entrusted GSE with a EUR 795.5 million programme: admitted plants must enter into operation within 24 months of the communication of the grant agreement and in any case no later than 31 December 2027. A project starting today cannot count on this grant.

Who can be a member

Natural persons, SMEs, associations, third-sector entities, religious and research bodies and local administrations can be members. For SMEs, participation must not constitute the main commercial or industrial activity. Large enterprises cannot be shareholders or members.

For a business: what to look at

When it is worth considering

• SME with available surfaces: it can join as producer and consumer; self-consumption on its own site comes first, then the sharing of the surplus.
• Business with several sites: the primary substation of every POD must be checked; if the consumption and plants of a single final customer are under the same substation, the configuration of individual remote self-consumer exists.
• Large enterprise: it can take part as a third-party producer, having the energy of one of its plants count in the configuration by mandate to the community's representative, without becoming a member.

What is needed

• the list of PODs with the related primary substation;
• verification of company size, counting linked and partner enterprises;
• hourly production and consumption curves;
• statute and regulations with the criteria for allocating the contributions.

Typical mistakes

• expecting a discount on the bill: the contributions go from GSE to the community, which allocates them according to its own rules;
• sizing the plant on the incentive rather than on consumption;
• counting on the NRRP grant, whose window is closed;
• overlooking that, above 55% of shared energy (45% with a capital grant), the excess tariff goes to consumers other than businesses or to social purposes;
• forgetting that undertakings in difficulty have no access to the incentives.

What can and cannot be claimed

A business can state its participation in the community and the quantity of shared energy recognised by GSE. It cannot state that its consumption is covered by renewable energy merely because it is a member: for the origin of the energy withdrawn, guarantees of origin apply, and for the emissions inventory the rules of the carbon footprint.

Assessing an energy community is part of the energy sustainability service for businesses.

If you want to understand which configuration is feasible for your company's sites, IPGS ENERGY examines it as a consultant, not as a supplier: Request a conversation.

Sources

• GSE — Groups of self-consumers and renewable energy communities (accessed 10 October 2026)
• GSE — Renewable energy communities (Comunità energetiche rinnovabili) (accessed 10 October 2026)
• GSE — Fees and tariff (Corrispettivi e tariffa) (accessed 10 October 2026)
• GSE — CACER Decree and TIAD, Operating Rules (version of 16 July 2025) (accessed 10 October 2026)
• GSE — Operating Rules of the CACER Facility (27 March 2026) (accessed 10 October 2026)
• MASE — Decree no. 414 of 7 December 2023 (text published by GSE) (accessed 10 October 2026)
• GSE — Interactive map of primary substations (accessed 10 October 2026)