In recent years, more and more people have decided to install a photovoltaic system to produce electricity independently, optimize consumption and also have the possibility of obtaining revenues from the sale of excess energy.
Anyone who already has a photovoltaic system will surely have heard of dedicated retreat and simplification of procedures for the marketing of electricity, but not everyone knows in detail how it works and what the requirements are to access it.
In this article we will see in detail what the 2024 dedicated withdrawal is, whether it is convenient and how much can be obtained from the sale of electricity.
What is the dedicated retreat?
Before explaining what’s new for the 2024 dedicated withdrawal, it’s a good idea to know in detail how this procedure for selling electricity produced by photovoltaic systems works.
Dedicated collection, also known by the acronym RID, is the simplified method with which the owner of a photovoltaic system can sell excess electricity and feed it into the national network, obtaining revenues. The RID was introduced in 2008 by the GSE (Energy Services Manager) to streamline the bureaucratic procedures relating to the marketing of electricity produced by photovoltaics and become a valid alternative to the free market.
The dedicated retreat differs in the access methods from the exchange on sitea procedure developed for owners of small photovoltaic systems, who do not have to release excess energy onto the national market. Net metering will no longer be active from the end of 2024 and even those who have chosen this method of electricity compensation will have to request dedicated withdrawal.
In the RID formula, two figures come into direct contact: the producer of photovoltaic electricity and GSE, which purchases the energy component and feeds it into the national grid. When you install a photovoltaic panel system and choose dedicated collection, you are always entitled to compensation for the sale of excess energy, this revenue is established based on the number of kWh exchanged, at the average monthly prices by time slot and market area.
There is talk of a dedicated 2024 withdrawal because the GSE periodically updates the average minimum prices and based on these values, the revenues obtained from the production and sale of electricity can be calculated in advance and with sufficient precision.
How to access the RID
As we underlined in the previous paragraph, to access and request dedicated collection it is necessary to meet requirements, especially relating to the structure and power of the photovoltaic system. The requirements for requesting and obtaining the RID are specified on the official GSE website, updated to the latest regulations regarding photovoltaic systems.
The sale of electricity can derive not only from photovoltaic systems but also from other systems, for example wind, geothermal, wave power, etc.
To access the RID, the system must have a power of less than 10 MVW and be powered by renewable sources. To allow everyone to be able to sell their excess energy, GSE always specifies that it is possible to access the RID regardless of the power of the system, it is only essential that it is a system powered by renewable sources:
- hybrid power plants;
- wind power;
- hydraulics;
- geothermal;
- wave motion and tidal motion.
RID is also permitted to all those who produce energy through non-renewable sources, provided that the system has a nominal power of less than 10 MVW. Access to revenues for the production of electricity is also granted to owners of systems with a power equal to or greater than 10 MVW, but be careful, we are only talking about systems powered by renewable sources.
If the above requirements are met, the application for the RID can be submitted, which must be submitted electronically, following the instructions of the Energy Services Manager.
In addition to the indications for those who want to take advantage of the simplified system, some exclusions are indicated, for example, plants that were built benefiting from the all-inclusive tariff incentives cannot benefit from the RID.
Producers who have installed systems powered by renewable sources thanks to state incentives have had the opportunity to choose the so-called “all-inclusive rate” which also includes any revenues.
All plants that fall into this category cannot obtain dedicated collection, given that they have chosen to obtain a tariff that includes both incentives and earnings. To find out which systems are powered by renewable sources, there is a detailed list on the GSE, but in general these include those that obtained incentives in 2008, 2012 and 2016.
The RID request must be forwarded when the system is activated and can also be delegated to a consultant from the installing company or a specialized technician.
How to fill out the application for the 2024 dedicated retreat
To access the 2024 dedicated collection system it is necessary to submit an application via the portal managed by GSE and fill it in with all the required data. In the application you will need to enter the system data, already present in Terna’s Gaudì system and which can also be obtained from the documentation provided by the installing company or the technician who carried out the construction project.
If the system is already registered, the fields will be filled in automatically and you can continue with the other fields, for example with the location (address, market area, municipality) and with the technical characteristics. Once these sections have been completed, you will have to specify whether there are any accumulations or whether it is not a photovoltaic system and finally you will have to enter your bank details.
When the application is complete, the system will send a confirmation that the RID request has been made and the contract will be forwarded to the applicant. As an alternative to sending the 2024 dedicated withdrawal request, you can use the simplified procedure which is carried out together with the application for connection of the system via the Single Model.
How much does RID pay?
To understand whether the 2024 dedicated withdrawal is really convenient, it is appropriate to calculate how much can be obtained from the production and sale of electricity in the national grid. Each producer can obtain revenues from the sale of electricity based on the average monthly price system, established and updated by the national operator.
The average price for electricity is calculated taking into account some parameters: time slots, market areas and value. The first two values are pre-established a priori, while the value is variable and is updated periodically, for example in 2024 it was changed on January 31st and will be valid for the next few months.
The calculation is different based on the market areas, which are identified as follows: North, Central North, Central South, South and the regions of Sardinia, Calabria and Sicily, a figure that can make the difference in terms of revenues. The second parameter concerns the time slots, a subdivision that includes both daily times and the different days of the week.
The last indicator to establish the average monthly price for the sale of electricity is established by the GSE, which publishes it on its official website or on specialized pages. To understand the convenience of the RID, you can read the data provided by GSE in the documents section of its website, relating to the last months of 2024.
If you read the average monthly prices applied in the month of March, you can already have an indication of what the revenues will be, always considering the three time slots and the market area. In March, if you have a photovoltaic system located in the Central-South area and you consider the F1 time band, you will have an average price of €89.59 per MWh, a value that drops slightly if you read the data relating to the F2 band and F3, respectively €70.97 and €58.71.
The average prices are very variable, in fact if we consider the first five months of 2024, we can immediately notice that in January, February and March there are more substantial revenues, while in April there is a decrease in the average price and a slight rise to May.
The RID is certainly more convenient if you have a photovoltaic system or one powered by other renewable sources located in the North and in the Center North, but you must always consider climate changes and the volatility of the average monthly price. The electricity producer has the possibility to choose whether to adhere to the hourly zonal price, which considers the parameters indicated above, therefore the market area and the time slot or the minimum guaranteed price (PMG) which is established every year by ARERA.
The choice between the two prices depends on the power of the system, the market area in which it is located and above all on the convenience of the energy component, which for 2024 has been set at 4 cents per kWh fed into the electricity grid.
Is dedicated collection worth it?
Now that we know how much the 2024 dedicated retreat pays, it is appropriate to ask ourselves whether it is convenient and what type of pricing regime to join. Electricity producers who have large plants will certainly have a better chance of obtaining revenues if they consider the guaranteed minimum price system, regardless of the area and time slot.
If you have a small to medium-sized photovoltaic or wind system, the choice can be more difficult and must be carefully evaluated. For example, if the system is located in a particularly windy or sunny area at certain hours of the day, it will certainly be more convenient to opt for the hourly zonal price (PO), especially if you have low consumption and produce a lot of excess electricity .
The situation changes significantly if the system is not located in particularly sunny areas and you still want to obtain revenue from the additional energy produced, in this case it will be advisable to choose the minimum guaranteed price. Regardless of the price system chosen, dedicated withdrawal is always convenient because it allows you to obtain revenues from the energy that is not consumed and to recover the initial investment over time.
Compared to on-site exchange, which will no longer be in force, dedicated collection is above all convenient for those who own or decide to install systems from renewable sources of great energy power.