Empowering sustainable energy communities: the case of cooperative ènostra

The energy cooperative ènostra provides 100 per cent renewable electricity a l over Italy, promotes energy-saving campaigns and supports sustainable electricity procurement. Despite not meeting EU Renewable Energy Community (REC) criteria, it supports co lective self-consumption and local REC initiatives, offering tailored consultancy for over 50 projects in Italy. Through the case study of ènostra, this paper explores how energy cooperatives can drive the bottom-up energy transition, as we l as how their co laboration with renewable energy communities can foster a just and sustainable energy transition rooted in local territories. By promoting citizen participation and raising awareness of more sustainable energy consumption, renewable energy cooperatives have similar potential to RECs, despite the fact that they are neither incentivised nor promoted by European regulations. This paper discusses the two models (one national cooperative vs several local energy communities), current and potential synergies, as we l as highlights regulatory contradictions in light of national decarbonisation goals.