Project Development
Hands-on support from feasibility to commissioning.
- Site and feasibility assessments
- Business model design
- Procurement and installer selection
- Grid connection support
Implementation · Policy · Knowledge · Romania
Accelerating Energy Communities in Romania.
We help communities transform renewable energy opportunities into real projects through implementation support, legal expertise, practical guidance, and collaboration.
Where do you fit in?
- Communities supported
- 34
- Partner municipalities
- 12
- Pilot projects underway
- 6
- MW in development
- 18.5
01The Challenge
The rules exist. The projects mostly don’t.
Romania has sun, wind, rooftops, and a legal framework for energy communities. What’s missing is the bridge between a good idea at a town-hall meeting and a working installation that lowers bills. That bridge is what we build.
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The energy transition is speeding up
Prices, EU targets, and new technology are pushing energy decisions down to the local level, faster than most towns can react.
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Communities need practical support, not more theory
Mayors, neighbors, and NGOs don’t need another white paper. They need someone to walk the route with them: paperwork, procurement, grid connection.
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Legislation exists, implementation is the hard part
Energy communities are legal in Romania. But between the law and a functioning project sit dozens of practical steps that no single guide covers.
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Local collaboration is the essential ingredient
No project survives without trust between citizens, local authorities, and technical partners. Building that trust is work, and it’s ours too.
02What is an Energy Community?
Energy owned by the people who use it.
An energy community is a group of people (neighbors, a village, a housing block) that jointly produces, shares, and manages its own renewable energy. The value stays local. Here’s the shape of it:
Step 1
People
Citizens, a municipality, a co-op: anyone with a shared interest in local energy.
Step 2
Create an organization
A legal entity (association or cooperative) that lets the group act as one.
Step 3
Develop renewable assets
Solar on roofs, small wind, storage, all sized to what the community actually needs.
Step 4
Generate shared benefits
Lower bills, local income, energy resilience: decided by members, not shareholders.
03What We Do
Five ways we move projects forward.
From the first conversation to the first kilowatt-hour, we cover the practical ground.
Public Policy
Making the national framework work for local projects.
- Policy analysis and position papers
- Dialogue with regulators and ministries
- Input on secondary legislation
Legal & Technical Expertise
Straight answers to the questions that stall projects.
- Legal-form selection and statutes
- Contract templates and review
- Technical design sanity checks
Knowledge Resources
Guides written from real projects, in plain language.
- Step-by-step implementation guides
- Funding and eligibility toolkits
- Workshops and training sessions
- Case-study library
Pilot Projects
We build reference projects so others can copy them.
- Municipal and rural pilots
- Replicable documentation packs
- Open cost and performance data
04Who We Work With
Anyone ready to build.
Energy communities work because different people bring different pieces. These are ours.
Citizens
Neighbors who want a say, and a stake, in where their energy comes from.
Municipalities
Local authorities turning public roofs and land into public benefit.
NGOs
Organizations that already have the community’s trust and want to add energy to their toolkit.
Housing Associations
Blocks and neighborhoods sharing one roof, and soon, one power plant.
Cooperatives
Existing co-ops extending a proven model into energy.
SMEs
Local businesses cutting costs by producing alongside their community.
Energy Experts
Engineers, lawyers, and planners who lend projects their credibility.
European Partners
Networks and institutions that bring funding, experience, and proven playbooks.
05Featured Projects
Proof, not promises.
The initiative’s first case studies, documented step by step as they advance.
Pilot project
Petroșani Energy Community
- Context
- A Jiu Valley town in full transition away from coal, with high energy bills on public buildings.
- Objectives
- Solar panels on public buildings and direct citizen participation as community members.
- Stage
- Feasibility study and community formation, in progress.
- Estimated impact
- Lower bills for members and a transition model for the whole valley.
Pilot project
Mogoșoaia Energy Community
- Context
- A commune near Bucharest, among the first to test the energy community model.
- Objectives
- Solar production on public buildings, in a partnership between citizens and the town hall.
- Lessons learned
- Early citizen involvement and legal clarity make the difference between an idea and a project.
- Replicable model
- The steps taken and the paperwork become a public guide for other communes.
Your community could be next.
We’re preparing the next case studies. Tell us about your town and let’s build the next story together.
Start a Project06Team
Energy Communities Society
Law, grid and community, at the same table.
We fight energy poverty in Romania through community solidarity. Our team brings technology, energy, law and economics together to turn a local idea into a project that works.
- 12+
- years in tech & management
- 12+
- years in energy
- 2× PhD
- energy & economics
01 / Technology & management
Lucian Toader
12+ years in tech and management. Founder of ALTREAL and the Energy Communities Society.
02 / Renewable energy
Andrei Bucur
12+ years in energy. Leadership roles at top companies. Major renewable-energy projects.
03 / Grids & modelling
Catalin Voinea
PhD in energy. Distribution engineer. Specialist in technical standards and modelling.
04 / Energy law & ANRE
Filip Ungureanu
Lawyer specialising in energy. Contracts and ANRE regulatory compliance.
05 / Economics & delivery
Olivian Biltac
PhD in economics. Trainer. Project coordination and management.
06 / Resources & grants
Marian Bordeianu
Specialist in geothermal energy and mineral resources. Specialist in European funding.
07Knowledge Hub
Your project, step by step.
Every energy community walks roughly the same road. The Knowledge Hub organizes everything we know along that road, so you always know what comes next.
- Understand the conceptWhat an energy community is, and whether it fits your situation.
- Check eligibilityWho can join, what your site allows, what the law requires.
- Choose a legal formAssociation or cooperative, with statutes that won’t bite later.
- Find fundingGrants, loans, and member contributions, matched to your project size.
- ImplementProcurement, installation, grid connection, commissioning.
- Operate & governRunning the assets and the organization fairly, for decades.
08Benefits Calculator
What would an energy community bring to your town?
Pick your community’s profile and see the estimate instantly: money saved, energy produced, emissions avoided, people helped. Indicative figures, calculated transparently.
0 leiEstimated yearly savings
0 MWhEnergy produced per year
0 tCO₂ emissions avoided per year
0%Energy independence
0People benefiting
0Vulnerable households supported
0Jobs created or supported
0 leiAverage yearly saving per household
09Partners
Built together.
We build the initiative together with partners from civil society, public administration, academia, and the technical sector. As the ecosystem grows, partners will be organized by category:
- Strategic partners
- Institutional partners
- Academic partners
- European partners
- Technical partners
10Get Started
Ready to build your energy community?
Tell us where you are: a first idea, a willing municipality, or a stalled project. We’ll help you find the next step, and the one after that.
Or write to us directly at hello@eci.example. We answer within a week.