Energy Communities as a Driver of Renewable Transition in the Danube Region

Despite significant renewable energy potential, the share of renewables in gross final energy production and subsequent consumption across the Danube Region remains relatively low. As a result, the region continues to depend on imported fossil fuels, posing economic, environmental, and energy security challenges. Addressing this issue is a core objective of the Danube Region Programme (DRP), which aims to reduce fossil fuel dependency by supporting the integration of renewable energy sources and fostering a greener, more resilient energy sector.

The recent renewable energy expansion, the evolving climate policies, and the liberalisation of electricity markets in the early 2000s introduced a new vision of citizens and communities as active participants in the energy system. Energy communities bring together renewable energy production, energy sharing, and self-consumption, while also promoting social innovation, energy democracy, and local engagement. Their benefits extend across economic, environmental, social, and energy-system dimensions. By placing people at the centre of the energy system, energy communities contribute to cleaner energy production, lower costs, greater fairness, and increased resilience.

While energy communities are increasingly recognised as effective tools for decarbonisation, citizen empowerment, and local economic development at global level, the concept remains fairly little known in the Danube Region and the establishment of such communities is often hampered by legal, operational, or technical barriers. Overcoming these barriers and accelerating community-based energy initiatives is therefore central to the DRP.

In this context, two DRP-funded projects, NRGCOM and DECA, play a pioneering role in supporting the development of energy communities and advancing the renewable energy transition.

NRGCOM (recognised as flagship project by the EU Strategy for the Danube Region) aims to enhance the spread of energy communities by creating an enabling environment for their successful establishment and operation across the Danube Region. By addressing legal, operational, social, and awareness-related conditions, NRGCOM supports the effective launch and functioning of renewable energy communities (RECs).

DECA focuses on accelerating citizen-led renewable energy actions by building capacities and developing practical tools and strategies to scale up community energy initiatives. Through local pilot projects, DECA tests and demonstrates concrete community energy models, providing real-world examples that can be replicated and adapted across the region.

Both projects adopt a similar approach rooted in knowledge exchange, education, and skills development, combined with pilot and demonstration activities. While DECA emphasises hands-on testing of solutions at the local level, NRGCOM concentrates on improving the broader framework conditions that allow energy communities to thrive, while also supporting pilot actions to strengthen their implementation.

Aligned with the wider climate and clean energy objectives of the Danube Region, the two projects demonstrate how community-driven approaches can accelerate the renewable energy transition. Together, they highlight the transformative potential of energy communities to support a more sustainable, inclusive, and secure energy future for the region.