How Can the Industrial Decarbonisation Bank Accelerate Industrial Transition in CEE?

Romania’s Nuclear Energy Expansion. Global Renaissance and National Delivery

Ce mai așteptăm? Trei motive pentru care România ar trebui să acorde prioritate Planului Social pentru Climă 

Unlocking Geothermal Energy Potential in Romania

This report assesses the current state and potential of geothermal energy in Romania. It identifies structural barriers to development, and proposes a set of targeted policy measures to unlock the geothermal potential. Romania holds large untapped geothermal resources, particularly in the western region. Yet the sector remains underdeveloped, still largely limited to district heating, spas, and a handful of recent projects aimed at heating public buildings in well-known geothermal areas. Unlocking this potential could support the decarbonisation of the heating sector, strengthen energy security, diversify the energy mix, and, in the longer term, contribute to low-carbon electricity generation. Author’s Insights:...

The EU Affordable Housing Plan: Challenges and Opportunities for Romania

This policy paper on the Affordable Housing Plan (AHP) defines which aspects of the plan are effective for Romania and which are not, given the significant gaps between the plan’s ambitions and the country’s specific realities and needs.  Romania’s housing challenges are shaped by a distinct post-communist trajectory: despite holding one of the highest homeownership rates in the EU (95.6%), the country simultaneously suffers from severe overcrowding, an aging and energy-inefficient building stock, high construction costs, and deep rural poverty. These structural conditions mean that several of the AHP’s core mechanisms are unlikely to produce long-term, feasible outcomes in Romania without meaningful adaptation. Author’s Insights: „The European...

Romania in the Context of Global Megatrends and Uncertainties for Green Growth 

This policy paper examines the implications of recent economic and geopolitical developments for Romania’s energy transition and industrial competitiveness. EPG experts points out that the global landscape is marked by structural vulnerabilities, economic fragmentation, and increasingly fraught geopolitics, as reflected in the recent energy crises. In this context, a decline in trade volume is anticipated in 2026, followed by a slow recovery, amid intensifying protectionist tariffs and supply chain adjustments. The energy transition will need to be acclimatised to the changing world order. Romania’s ability to implement its energy transition is dependent on supply chains’ resilience, especially for low-carbon technologies....

Bridging the Energy Performance Gap: Guidelines for Achieving High-performing Renovations in Central and Eastern Europe

The revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) introduce new energy performance standards and targets for the rate and depth of building renovations. These measures aim to align the sector with the EU’s decarbonisation pathway toward climate neutrality by 2050, but such efforts risk being undermined if, once completed, renovations fail to achieve the expected energy savings and reductions in CO₂ emissions. Drawing on country assessments and stakeholder consultations in Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, and Croatia, a newly released OUR-CEE guide provides a set of measures for national and local policymakers to address underperformance in public building renovations.  The measures reflect barriers and enabling factors identified across the region and are structured to cover all stage of the renovation process: financing, planning, implementation, and monitoring. Author’s Insights: “Closing the energy performance...

National Assessment of Carbon Management Potential in Romania’s Just Transition Regions

This study outlines the inputs needed to assess both the implementation and socio-economic impacts of carbon management (CM) technologies in Just Transition regions.  It suggests that CM technologies could play a significant role in supporting some of Romania’s Just Transition regions by enabling emissions reductions, as well as maintaining industrial activity and safeguarding employment in regions reliant on heavy industry. Romania is well placed to advance these solutions, given the concentration of hard-to-abate sectors in these regions and favourable geological conditions for CO₂ storage.    Author’s Insights: “Given the economic vulnerability of Just Transition countries, carbon management could offer a viable decarbonisation pathway while supporting the transformation...

Sustainability and Constraints in the Building Sector Under the ZEB Requirements 

This study analyses the Zero-Emission Building (ZEB) standard and the mandatory calculation and disclosure of Life-Cycle Global Warming Potential (GWP) for new buildings within the EU’s Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). The new extensive body of legislation was created to achieve an energy efficient, sustainable, and decarbonised building stock by 2050.  EPG experts argue that the provisions for new buildings significantly expand on what constitutes a “sustainable” building. While energy use and carbon emissions from buildings’ operation remain a central concern, the new regulatory framework adds a wider perspective, which includes circularity, renewable energy sources, and whole-life carbon impacts. Author’s Conclusion: “The study identifies several levers for policy development at the national level, essential to strengthen the implementation of the EU policy framework to...