The Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) is an essential instrument for achieving the energy and climate objectives of the European Union (EU). The recast EED aims to align its provisions – since many of them require increased ambition and enhancement of their scope – with the target of 55% reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030.
For Romania, this represents a unique opportunity to further improve its national energy efficiency legislative framework and stimulate investments in energy efficiency in all sectors, especially by:
- giving a leading role to the public sector thus allowing governments to take more ownership of the implementation of the directive;
- targeting energy-intensive sectors and endorsing a new framework for heating and cooling in order to have a more efficient and sustainable system;
- introducing specific energy savings measures for the building sector and vulnerable consumers, as energy efficiency measures can contribute not only to tackling the present energy crisis, but also alleviating energy poverty.
However, there are some specific challenges that need to be considered:
- although it is paramount to assimilate quick and high shares of renewable energy into district heating systems, there is a legitimate concern that this may be difficult to implement in Romania, which still has large existing district heating systems that require high flow temperatures, making their decarbonisation through renewables more difficult;
- in order to accommodate the new targets and provisions, Romania will need to ensure a stronger energy efficiency governance framework.