03-07-2014

EU funds for energy projects closer to citzens in Central and Eastern Europe

While the negotiations between Member States, the European Commission and stakeholders on the 2014 - 2020 EU funds' spending plans are still in full swing, the analysis of those draft investment plans, so called Operational Programmes, already reveals the paradigm shift regarding investments into the decentralization and decarbonisation of CEE countries' energy systems. 

Compared to the previous EU budget period 2007-2013 the prioritized support for small scale Renewable Energy Sources, including for energy cooperatives, the significantly increased finanincing of Energy Efficiency measures in the (private) housing sector (and for housing associations) and a much strong role for local authorities are the general and structural elements which will accelerate co-power initiatives in Central and Eastern Europe until the end of this decade.

 The Polish region of Podalskie which will "focus on developing a local decentralised energy system and fostering a local reneawble energy revolution, with people being the owners of energy and heat producing installations", or the Community Lead Local Development intiative in Slovakia which can spent 99 million Eur for "creating local producer-consumer changs, networking of SMEs with focus on local economy and community development" are just two of the manyfold opportunities how European Structural and Investment Funds will support citizens in their efforts to establish community power in the future."