Smart Energy Communities and Financial Support under EU and State Law and Policies

Abstract

This chapter explains the meaning of the key concepts, and provides a typology of support schemes for energy communities. It focuses on the legislation and some examples from Greece, the first Member State to implement the supranational legislation on energy communities. The development of smart energy systems and smart energy communities is one aspect of the emerging concept of “smart cities”. As beneficial as is the rise of energy communities, they do need a special regulatory regime that facilitates their establishment and the involvement of natural and legal persons, and would ensure that they can be influential market actors. The “smartness” of the energy communities constitutes another unclear concept, and supranational law contains no definition. The chapter focuses on the development of smart energy communities in Greece. Energy communities have the potential to become a significant pillar of the European energy transition and a typical characteristic of smart cities.