Energy Community Secretariat sets up renewables support hub for contracting parties

The Energy Community Secretariat has established a hub to speed up the deployment of renewables in contracting parties with a focus on transforming coal mines.

With the exception of Albania, members of the Energy Community in the Western Balkans generate electricity predominantly by burning coal from domestic mines.

Locations of depleted mines are suitable for renewable electricity plants.

The new Centre for Renewables Acceleration is a regional hub designed to provide technical support to all Energy Community contracting parties in accelerating renewable energy deployment through improved planning and coordination, according to the Energy Community Secretariat.

The center will especially help support the rollout of renewables acceleration areas (RAA) in brownfields, including coal mines.

Strengthening public trust in the energy transition is essential

In these locations, renewable energy projects can move forward more quickly through streamlined procedures grounded in strategic spatial planning that protects sensitive ecosystems, in the secretariat’s view.

It sees strengthening public trust in the energy transition as key to this mission, particularly in regions affected by coal phase-out and undergoing broader structural changes.

In the Western Balkans, the center will be supported through a partnership with the Open Society Foundations – Western Balkans (OSF-WB). The two sides recently formalized cooperation through a memorandum of understanding.

Work is complemented by the secretariat’s cooperation with The Nature Conservancy

Their activities in supporting the region include pilot interventions in contracting parties, expert exchanges, capacity-building initiatives and regional workshops.

The partnership with OSF-WB builds on the secretariat’s ongoing work in Ukraine, supported by the European Climate Foundation, which focuses on developing cross-border renewables acceleration areas in five regions bordering the EU and Moldova.

This work is further complemented by the secretariat’s cooperation with international environmental organization The Nature Conservancy (TNC), whose EU-recognized methodology for designating renewables acceleration areas informed the development of the Operational Blueprint for the Designation of RAAs in the Energy Community region and now serves as a best practice, the update reads.

Back in 2023, the secretariat and TNC formed a partnership to improve the planning and permitting procedures for renewable energy projects. TNC has implemented projects on RAAs in Serbia, Montenegro.