Shared Energy and Local Economy: The CER Sicilia Solidale Project

When it comes to renewable energy communities, the most common way to classify them is by who promotes them: public entities (usually municipalities), citizens, businesses, and energy sector operators.

This is a useful framework, but not all real-world cases fit neatly into it. CER Sicilia Solidale, based in Mussomeli, in the province of Caltanissetta, is one such case.

Its president places it without hesitation among grassroots initiatives, and the founding documents partially confirm this: the act of May 28, 2025, was signed by eight individuals, professionals, and leaders from local associations.

At the same time, the promoting group revolves around a business entity, Energy Project, led by Terenzio Alio, who is also the president of the CER. This brings the experience closer to the world of operators, and indeed, Energy Project has built the majority of the CER’s facilities. In short, we are in a boundary zone between the classic categories, which can also confirm that the profits from CERs can remain in the territory to fuel the local economy.

From a legal standpoint, the CER is an unregistered association, established as a Third Sector Entity (ETS) and registered with the National Register of Third Sector Entities (RUNTS), where its bylaws and founding act are also published. However, the internal regulations, which define the rules for distributing benefits, are not publicly available.

Membership is free of charge, except for a fee that may be approved by the governing body and is typically regulated by the internal rules. The General Assembly is the supreme body; each member has one vote and elects the governing body, currently composed of three of the founding members. All positions are held on a voluntary, unpaid basis.

President Alio, how did the idea for this CER come about?

The initiative stems from a shared vision of development that considers not only the legitimate individual economic benefit, but also, and above all, the socioeconomic context in which we live and operate. The idea originated from a meeting with those who later became members of the Administrative Body. We emerged from that meeting with the awareness that what had been achieved elsewhere could be replicated in our territory, and from there we took the first steps toward the concrete realization of our CER.

How is the promoting group composed?

The founding members are professionals, economic and social entities operating around Energy Project. They are technical figures who can make their expertise available, including a certified public accountant, a labor consultant, and a legal consultant. There are also individuals who represent local associations of which we are an active part: the Strauss association, which works with young people and on European project design; the UILDM section in Mussomeli (Italian Union for the Fight against Muscular Dystrophy); the CNA (National Confederation of Artisans and Small and Medium Enterprises) in Caltanissetta; and a fellow runner.

Mussomeli is the town where almost all of us were born, or from which we depart for professional reasons and to which we later choose to return. We viewed internal areas as a strength, given that authentic social bonds and relationships persist here, and it is from this community synergy that we started.

How did you choose the legal form, and how were the principles of solidarity and inclusion drafted?

We established ourselves as a third-sector association, and for the startup phase and the drafting of the bylaws, we relied on the support of the cooperative ènostra. The principles of solidarity and inclusion are rooted in the personal history of almost all the founding members, who have long been active in third-sector organizations alongside young people and more vulnerable social groups. The statutory choice was the natural consequence of our journey and our shared ethics.

How were the first members involved?

Much of the organizations that have joined are part of my personal and professional life experience, so involving them was almost natural. I served as the provincial president of CNA and was the first president of the Strauss association. I have been collaborating with ènostra for years on renewable energy projects, I am a member of UILDM, and a partner of Futurnoi. This network of relationships served as the ideal initial glue among the various organizations already established and operating in the area.

What is the concrete social impact of the CER, and how much is the benefit worth and who receives it?

The regulations stipulate that the producer is entitled to 30% of the incentive accrued. The remaining 70%, after deducting the CER management costs, is reinvested for the benefit of the local community and distributed among members and collective initiatives. For strategic decisions and the allocation of funds to social purposes, the democratic principle of “one person, one vote” applies, and therefore these matters are subject to validation by the General Assembly.

Are you also involving the local community?

We are primarily interested in engaging young people. The first initiative decided by the Board of Directors was a call for proposals and project ideas in schools, submitted by formal or informal student groups. At the beginning of 2027, we will launch a call for proposals to fund the implementation of the first three selected projects.

Where did you choose to install the facilities, and who funded and built them?

A few months after our establishment, we organized public meetings open to the community in Mussomeli and Acquaviva Platani, presenting our vision and the opportunities offered by the PNRR call for solar photovoltaic installations in small municipalities. Approximately 40% of the facilities installed to date were eligible for PNRR funding, and all of them were implemented by Energy Project.

Did you encounter any bureaucratic difficulties?

The main challenges concern the connection timelines with e-distribuzione. A year later, we are still waiting for the grid connection of several small facilities. This is compounded by the complexities of GSE procedures, both for the disbursement of the 40% non-repayable grant due to members and for the validation of new members added to supplement the initial configurations.

By focusing on small-scale facilities that do not consume agricultural land, have you incurred costs in terms of scale or the speed of economic returns?

The facilities were installed exclusively on rooftops, residential roofs, canopies, or the roofs of buildings owned by participating small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and were directly financed by the prosumer members who own these surfaces. Refraining from appropriating agricultural land and prioritizing architectural integration on already built-up surfaces is an ethical choice. We did not focus on the rapid achievement of greater economic benefits.

What is the current situation regarding installed capacity and activated configurations? And what is your target?

We have 44 CER facilities with a connected capacity of 478 kW, and another 492 are currently being installed. Fifty percent of the capacity involves prosumer users distributed across three primary substations. Based on the project pipeline we are already working on, we believe we can exceed 2 MW by the end of 2027. From a regulatory standpoint, there are no particular obstacles, as these are rooftop installations. However, the real bottleneck is the distribution grid, which unfortunately does not guarantee reliable timelines for connections and could jeopardize the possibility of entering operation by December 2027, the deadline for accessing the incentive tariff.

The CER has benefited from the support of the CEAH (Citizen Energy Advisory Hub) program. What did you concretely gain from the consultancy?

We participated in the call following a referral from ènostra, and given our internal expertise in European project design, we developed and submitted our proposal to structure a platform for exchange and barter designed to share work, skills, and value among members. We thus obtained the technical support provided by the program.

Through a digital wallet, we have activated 100-euro vouchers intended for CER members who participate in Invitalia’s charging station tender. The vouchers can be spent at economic activities that are members of the energy community and have signed agreements with it. We are also developing a local crowdfunding platform to raise resources in support of initiatives by local small and medium-sized enterprises and youth associations. We would like to raise funds to finance ideas and projects from youth associations or informal groups of young people. The CER will be responsible for financing a percentage of the investment and promoting fundraising in the area for the remaining portion.

What are your relations with other energy communities?

Through the CEAH program, we have joined an informal network of European CERs to exchange best practices and develop joint projects. In Italy, we are open and willing to collaborate with other energy communities to build a network.

How do you plan to measure the success of your CER, beyond the megawatts installed?

We are already measuring this today through the response and participation of members in CER's initiatives, as well as the full institutional support that the mayors of Mussomeli, Acquaviva Platani, and Villalba have provided us since the first public assembly. Together with them and other local authorities, we are identifying the first social interventions to mitigate a case of energy poverty.