Assessment of the impact at system-level of the distributed generation in the Italian power system

There is a growing consensus that the great risks arising from climate change require strong cuts of greenhouse gas emissions and that actions are urgently needed. The current economic crisis force policy makers to reconsider their policies and to introduce reforms that foster enhanced efficiency and more sustainable long term growth. Within this context, this paper assesses, by means of a scenario analysis, the impact of the distributed generation in the Italian power system, in terms of both economic and environmental costs and benefits. In particular, a baseline scenario, characterized by a development of renewable energy sources, is compared with other scenarios characterized by an increasing penetration of small combined heat and power plants, till to saturate an estimated potential in the industrial, tertiary and residential sectors.