The just energy transition must start with citizens, and local communities can become a concrete tool through which people participate directly in energy production, consumption, and, in the future, storage, said Sabina Mihăilescu, president and co-founder of the ÎntreVecini platform, on the occasion of the conference Energynomics Day, organized by Energynomics, part of Green Energy Expo & Romenvirotec.
According to her, beyond legislation, infrastructure, and the administrative architecture of the energy sector, the key to a successful transition is the direct involvement of citizens. Mihăilescu explained that people must use the resources they have at their disposal, from rooftops to other available spaces, to actively participate in a more sustainable energy model.
The ÎntreVecini platform has been working since 2020 to develop such initiatives at the block level, even before the concept of energy communities was enshrined in legislation. One example provided by Sabina Mihăilescu is the installation of photovoltaic panels on an apartment building in Sector 6, in a project she described as one of the first apartment building energy communities in Romania, which became a prosumer in 2022.
Currently, she pointed out, the organization has nine such communities out of a total of 433 nationwide. Compared to the housing stock or the number of prosumers in Romania, the figure remains low, but compared to when this type of initiative first began, the progress is significant.
Sabina Mihăilescu explained that, for the average citizen, an energy community means a group of individual entities – citizens, SMEs, or local administrations – that come together to produce, consume, store, and sell energy in the grid. Their goal is to decentralize and stabilize the energy system, in a context where energy security, accessibility, and sustainability are increasingly difficult to balance simultaneously.
Energy communities can respond to this triple challenge. Local production can contribute to energy security by reducing dependence on distant or vulnerable sources. At the same time, the use of renewable sources supports sustainability, and reducing transport costs can make energy more accessible, even if the initial investment remains significant.
In the case of apartment building communities, Mihăilescu pointed out that Romania is still in an intermediate stage. Until recently, what was available in practice was a model in which the homeowners’ association installs photovoltaic panels and offsets the consumption of common areas – elevators, stairwells, parking lots – essentially functioning as a regular prosumer. From a legal and functional point of view, these formulas are not yet fully energy communities, even if, from a social and behavioral perspective, they already express the logic of collective action around energy.
A key point of her speech was precisely this distinction between the reality on the ground and the still incomplete regulatory framework. Mihăilescu stressed that the next step requires clarification regarding registration, legal form, technical validation of participants, and smart metering systems. In this context, she stated: “We are eagerly awaiting to see how the energy communities law will be transposed into rules and procedures.”
She added that once the secondary legislation is in place, it should become possible for groups of tenants to install panels and offset not only common consumption but also their own consumption, in more flexible ways that are closer to the full meaning of energy communities.
For the current year, ÎntreVecini aims to continue developing these structures by installing photovoltaic panels for seven more communities, bringing the total to 16 by the end of the year. At the same time, the organization wants to emphasize the educational component, so that community members understand not only the financial benefits, but also the role of renewable energy in a just energy transition.
In relation to the authorities, Sabina Mihăilescu pointed out that the platform participates in public consultations and tries to contribute to improving the legislative framework, even if the results are not always fully satisfactory. At the same time, she believes that pressure must also come from citizens, especially at the local level, where access to funding and information often remains limited.
The conference Energynomics Day was organized by Energynomics, on the premises of the Green Energy Expo & Romenvirotec, with the support of our partners: Elektra Renewable Support, Baringa, Big Store, Think Blu Solution.