Albania’s Energy Regulatory Authority (ERE) has published draft rules for renewable energy communities (RECs). The proposal sets out the framework for the establishment, registration, operation, and monitoring of renewable energy communities, as well as membership requirements and reporting obligations.
Albania’s Energy Regulatory Authority (ERE) has published two draft documents concerning renewable energy communities for public consultation. The first is for regulating the procedures for the registration and maintenance of the register of renewable energy communities, as well as the procedure for suspending such entities. The second is a proposed standard membership agreement that defines the relationship between the communities and their members.
According to the draft regulation, an REC is a legal entity based on the open and voluntary participation of its members. Its activities can include the production, consumption, storage, sharing, and sale of renewable energy, as well as aggregation.
Under the proposed regulation, every REC would have to register with ERE. The legal representative of the community would submit the application for registration using the prescribed registration form.
Applications for registration would have to include, among other things, the community’s founding documents, a list of founding members, an agreement with the system operator for grid use, a description of planned activities and facilities, installed capacity, and the location of installations.
RECs with more than 100 kW of installed capacity would have to submit a five-year business plan
Communities with more than 100 kW of installed capacity would also have to submit a business plan containing a technical and financial assessment for their first five years of operation.
Registration would be a separate administrative procedure and would not replace licenses or authorizations required for activities such as electricity generation, supply, transmission, or distribution.
The regulator would establish and maintain an electronic register of renewable energy communities. By January 31, they would have to report data for the previous year to ERE. Their active status could be suspended if they no longer meet the applicable requirements, fail to comply with reporting obligations, or provide inaccurate information.
Membership agreement sets out rights and obligations of REC members
The draft standard membership agreement sets out the procedure for joining and leaving a community, members’ rights and obligations, rules for energy sharing and financial contributions, as well as responsibility for imbalances and complaint procedures.
The documents were issued on September 14 for public consultation. Interested parties can submit comments and recommendations within 20 working days from the notice.
Albania is yet to establish its first renewable energy community
The creation of these communities aims to increase consumer participation in energy production, promote self-production and local use of renewable energy, and create opportunities for the benefits from energy projects to be distributed at the community level.
Albania introduced renewable energy communities into its legislation in 2023. According to the Energy Community Secretariat’s 2025 Implementation Report, none have been established yet.
