[14.11.23] Connecting energy poor communities – after event material

How can energy communities alleviate energy poverty? ENPOR hosted a webinar to help understand the issue of establishing energy communities in Croatia and Greece. During the session, experts shared their thoughts on the impact of energy communities on the alleviation of energy poverty. Attendees got to hear some great insights from Greece and Croatia! 

Addressing energy poverty is an essential part of a just and inclusive energy transition. With rapidly rising energy prices and inflation, the situation has exacerbated further, pushing more people into energy poverty and worsening their living standards. Various measures are proposed to reduce energy poverty, including encouraging citizens to establish energy communities, especially vulnerable groups. 

The new Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) highlights specifically the problem of energy poverty and that member states need more resources to focus on the energy efficiency of energy-poor households. The EED also emphasizes that energy in the hands of citizens through energy communities can be one of the measures to reduce energy poverty. 

The aim of this online event was to present the situation in Croatia and Greece: 

Croatia  

Maja Bratko presented the state of play in Croatia. Maja gave an overview of the status of energy communities in current legislation and provided examples of good practice where citizens were involved in energy projects. She offered her expert insight into energy communities as a solution to alleviate energy poverty. 

Greece  

Alice Corovessi presented the view from Greece. Greece has had commendable success in the field of citizen involvement in energy communities. During her presentation, Alice shared statistical data relating to energy communities and examples of good practice. She also offered her expert view on energy communities as a solution for the alleviation of energy poverty, as well as Greek policies that could be replicated in other EU member states.