{"id":3644,"date":"2021-07-19T11:48:37","date_gmt":"2021-07-19T09:48:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.trea.ee\/eng\/?p=3644"},"modified":"2021-07-19T11:49:10","modified_gmt":"2021-07-19T09:49:10","slug":"after-the-transposition-deadline-characteristics-and-needs-of-energy-communities-in-eastern-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trea.ee\/eng\/after-the-transposition-deadline-characteristics-and-needs-of-energy-communities-in-eastern-europe\/","title":{"rendered":"After the transposition deadline: characteristics and needs of energy communities in Eastern Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The recast of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) that entered into force in December 2018 is a stepping-stone for European energy democracy. It aims at boosting the uptake of renewable energy thanks to the active involvement of citizens in the Renewable Energy Communities (REC) that they can create and join.<\/p>\n

RECs are a great innovation which is not just about generating energy but opens up the possibility for individuals, SMEs and municipalities to share, store, aggregate and provide energy services with the final purpose to bring \u00a0environmental, economic or social community benefits for members or the local area where projects are implemented. Complemented by the Citizens Energy Communities (CEC), another legal entity introduced by the Internal Electricity Market Directive (IEMD), European citizens are now empowered to take a central role in the energy market and support the energy transition. To make these new opportunities a reality and enable citizens to take action a fundamental step is the transposition by each member states of RED II into their national law.<\/p>\n

The webinar, taking place only two days after the official deadline for transposition, provided an overview of the status of this process across member states with a focus on some specific countries in the Easter Europe where energy collective actions are historically not common.<\/p>\n

After a dense introduction built on the DECIDE report<\/a> that presented how different member states dealt with the implementation of RED II and the relation established among RECs and CECs, the event dinged deeper into the cases of Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Croatia looking into the potential and shortcomings for Renewable Energy Communities.<\/p>\n

The central role that municipalities can play, the need for sharing good practices and well as mistakes and the central role of a continuous education and clear communication to establish trust in this new type of projects have been mentioned among the other as fundamental aspects to secure the success of RED II.<\/p>\n

Presentations can be read and downloaded form the following links:<\/p>\n