22/03/2024
The collective and citizen-driven energy actions that help pave the way for a clean energy transition at local levels have an increasing importance in Europe.
They contribute to the growing public acceptance of renewable energy projects and make it easier to attract private investments. At the same time, they have the potential to provide direct benefits to citizens by increasing energy efficiency, lowering their energy bills and creating local job opportunities.
Nevertheless, these initiatives are less common in the Danube Region, especially in its eastern part, where energy poverty is a main hurdle.
Therefore, the Promote local low-carbon energy actions in the EUSDR focuses on enabling the spread of comprehensive systems.
The Flagship activities aim to coordinate and support local, citizen-driven energy actions in the Danube Region to enhance a clean energy transition and fight against energy poverty, thus addressing Action 6 of the EUSDR Action Plan.
One of the flagship activities is the “European Energy Award” (EEA) which facilitates the daily operation work of local authorities in their municipal energy planning.
Another solution is to establish a network of experts and interested municipalities (“Danube Region Advisory Hub”) that support the set-up of new and the expansion of existing energy communities in a broader sense (going beyond the “prosumer” concept of renewable electricity and smart energy systems, and including local heating systems as well), to assist municipalities to elaborate their Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAP-s), enforce them joining the Covenant of Mayors, harmonise local policies to national and EU strategies, facilitate capacity building and benchmarking etc.
Check the link for more details about this action: https://danube-region.eu/promote-local-low-carbon-energy/
