Regional development and establishment of renewable energy clusters in north-west region of romania

Abstract

In order to link the question of renewable energy to regional development and territorial cohesion, the article aims to present and evaluate recent initiatives taking place in the North-West Development Region of Romania, with emphasis on emerging renewable energy clusters. Moreover, we will present a case-study on geothermal energy cluster in Northern Transylvania. The state-of-art analysis is a result of a previous FP7 project, while the action plan has been derived from its results in a participative way, through organizing a focus-group session with all relevant stakeholders. Such initiatives come to support the idea that decentralized energy production may successfully contribute to regional development and cohesion by providing income sources and creating employment opportunities.