Romanians could have much lower energy bills and contribute to the energy transition at the same time
By regulating a framework for energy communities
manage and consume energy from green sources
PressOne has already shown how only a regulation issued by the National Energy Regulatory Authority could create a framework for energy communities to come together
There are 9,000 such energy communities in Europe
the first energy community to be formed in Romania
The cooperative currently has more than 900 members
to understand what an energy cooperative means and how it can work in Romania
and why democratizing access to energy is the next step in the climate transition
Chairman of the Board of Directors: The Energy Cooperative is organized according to the law of European cooperatives
It is a bit different from the Romanian law
Basically we operate on the basis of a European regulation for cooperatives of all types
This concept was later also taken up in the directives that named energy communities
We are talking about democratic control of the organization
This is the basic idea and the significant difference between us and an LLC
To join the cooperative you have to buy some shares
You can't come in and take over the cooperative on the basis of a majority
And this principle also applies to energy communities
We're talking about people who live in Romania but are of other nationalities
a founding member of the cooperative is from Spain
and he basically came with his expertise in this area
Because in Western Europe this concept has been developed for several decades and has become very strong
which is the association of energy communities at European level and we see how energy communities in Western Europe have now come up with all kinds of energy production projects from wind
Or energy efficiency projects for buildings
Our aim is to facilitate the energy transition in Romania and to invest in projects that help this goal
How did I see the cooperative when I joined
there was no question of becoming a prosumer
but I wanted to contribute to the energy transition as a citizen
And in Romania there was no such opportunity at that time
There were no listed companies in this field
there are green investment funds out there
I mean you buy shares in a certain fund and you know that your money is invested in projects like that
peste 470 de hectare din fondul forestier național au fost oferite de guvern
Complexului Energetic Oltenia (CEO) pentru extinderea sau deschiderea unor noi cariere de cărbune
eliminarea treptată a producției de energie pe bază de lignit și huilă
precum și închiderea etapizată a minelor până în decembrie 2032
Incendiile de vegetație devin un fenomen tot mai amplu și mai grav în toată Europa
însă numărul pompierilor angajați în fiecare țară este tot mai mic
The energy cooperative was the first organization that declared
And the main goal is not profit but social and environmental benefit
The crises that have hit society in the last four years have also affected our organization
We were established in October-November 2019
and the original plan was to immediately purchase a photovoltaic park
Then came the pandemic and all plans were shelved
Revista PresseiUn newsletter pentru cititori curioși și inteligenți
There was a company (Apuron Energy) leaving Romania and selling a photovoltaic park and an electricity supply company
we didn't raise enough money from our members to buy both
And we could only buy the electricity supply company
This is how we became the first supplier in Romania to offer 100% renewable electricity
We buy from a photovoltaic park and from prosumers
We want as many of these communities as possible
we even have projects where we encourage the formation of communities
We are also working with several town halls around the country and next year we will have a project where we will offer grants to cooperatives that are forming
This is especially in the context of the European Commission's target to have at least one energy community in every town in the European world with more than 10,000 inhabitants
In Western Europe there are already very many
The fact that people produce their own energy and consume it all together over time will lead to much lower costs for everyone
In addition to the clear environmental advantage
there is an economic advantage and an energy independence and resilience advantage
You become less dependent on the national grid or resources from outside the country
The more we reduce dependence on external markets
which can be easily manipulated by all sorts of dictators and people with other interests
the better it is for everyone in the European Union
there were communities of enthusiastic people
But then the concept developed a lot when there was state support
A number of facilities to do projects together in various forms
that it is important for these communities to develop
but to encourage people to invest their own money in that direction and have some facilities
because there are many apartment blocks in Romania
They have already started to put photovoltaic panels on the blocks
but that system is the property of the owners' association
So it doesn't belong to one person in the block
energy can be used for self-consumption only for common consumption in the block
the electricity that the elevator consumes and
A regulation whereby all the energy produced by the panels can be consumed by the consumers themselves
all the inhabitants of the block should be considered as a single entity and what they produce on the block should be consumed by the apartments in the block
you will see that more than half of the cost you pay is distribution tariffs
Self-consumption means consuming the energy that you produce on your block without paying the taxes and tariffs I was talking about
It's common sense to have some regulation so that the energy can be consumed by the people on the block
the community members determine how they share the energy in the block
We are talking about energy produced by a community
which is shared among the consumers in that community
But the major advantage is self-consumption
And this can be solved by a regulation of the National Energy Regulatory Authority
I have heard in press conferences and in conferences that ANRE representatives have attended that they are looking at regulations in other countries
Especially since there is lobbying from both directions
In Western Europe they are much more advanced
is implementing an energy-sharing system this year
They have a law that comes into force on July 1
more and more countries will have an energy-sharing law
Towards energy transition and democratization of the energy market
How fast we move in that direction depends on the efforts we make
This article is published in the framework of the "Energy4Future" project co-funded by the European Union
The European Union is not responsible for the information and opinions expressed in the course of this project and article
The sole responsibility for the content lies with PressOne