Secretariat’s Policy Guidelines aim to bring to life renewables self-consumption in the Energy Community 

Today, the Secretariat published its final Policy Guidelines on the integration of renewables self-consumers into the energy networks. The Guidelines follow the latest legal requirements stemming from the EU’s Clean Energy Package, soon to be adopted in the Energy Community. Their purpose is to provide advice to policy-makers in the Contracting Parties on the development of national legal and regulatory frameworks conducive to renewables self-consumption and empowering final customers to actively participate in the self-consumption of renewable energy.

The Guidelines reflect the inputs received via public consultation, which invited all stakeholders to submit their views on the draft document. All respondents noted that renewables self-consumers could play an important role in achieving 2030 targets in the Energy Community. The majority of the respondents considered the existing legal framework in the Contracting Parties incomplete, inconsistent and insufficiently detailing the rules and procedures for customers to become prosumers in practice. A well-structured, coherent and consistent legal and regulatory framework was seen as the most important precondition for the facilitation of self-consumption.

The publication of the Policy Guidelines will be followed by workshops on the legal and regulatory framework and best practice examples in light of the EU’s experience. Special attention will be dedicated to the development of a framework conducive to renewable energy communities.