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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ESI Europe (Driving Investment in Energy Efficiency through Energy Savings Insurance in Europe)

Teaser

Summary

In February 2018, the Basel Agency for Sustainable Energy (BASE), the Italian Federation for Energy Efficiency (FIRE), the Business Council for Sustainable Development Portugal (BCSD Portugal) and the Centro TecnolÃ³gico EnergyLab (Spain), launched this three-year project aimed at scaling up investments in energy efficiency.
The ESI model targets small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and creates the conditions for them to upgrade specific old inefficient technologies to new energy efficient technologies. SMEs make up the vast majority of enterprises in Italy, Portugal and Spain and represent a significant market opportunity for energy efficiency improvements that remains largely untapped.
The ESI model comprises financial and non-financial elements designed to work together to create trust and credibility among key actors, and to reduce the risk for SMEs to invest in energy efficiency. The four main components of the ESI model are:
- a standardised contract establishing a simple and clear framework for the negotiations between SMEs and technology providers.
- an energy savings insurance (ESI) product, offered by a local provider to insure against the technology provider failing to fulfil its contractual obligations regarding the energy savings.
- a validation process conducted by an independent technical validation entity which helps to overcome the perceived high performance risk of energy efficiency projects.
- a financing structure established by linking existing financial instruments (i.e. green credit lines) that are already available on the local market, to enable energy efficiency projects to be realised.

Work performed

\"The first phase of the ESI Europe project consisted of a market assessment in order to identify the energy efficiency market potential in the three target countries - Italy, Portugal and Spain. The assessment included interviews with technology providers, financial institutions, associations and SMEs.
The pre-selected technologies with significant market potential are LED lighting, industrial refrigeration, cogeneration, solar PV systems, air conditioning systems, air compressors, boilers, electric motors and solar water heaters. The programme targets a total of 344,000 SMEs from Italy, Portugal and Spain. Initially the ESI programme will prioritise the food wholesale sector (Italy), the food processing industry (Italy, Spain), the textile industry (Portugal) and the hotel sector (Italy, Portugal and Spain) where an important energy efficiency market opportunity was identified. This represents potential investment of EUR 1,200 million.

The following phase of the project involved the development of the ESI model elements adapted to the local context in Italy, Portugal and Spain:
- Local law firms were hired to assist in the development of the ESI Europe standardised contract in local language and in accordance with regulation and market practices. The initial version of the contract is available in each of the target countries.
- Several insurance companies were contacted and supported to adapt the insurance product to the ESI format. The companies are ready to offer the insurance in their countries.
- Independent and credible validation entities in Europe have been identified to develop all the forms, protocols and methodologies to establish robust, reliable and transparent validation and verification procedures. The methodology for ESI Europe project is based on existing internationally recognised standards such as IPMVP and ISO standards. One initial validation methodology and procedure has been developed for the ESI Europe project, with adaptation to local context and regulation.
- Financial institutions including commercial banks, development banks, guarantee funds from the three countries and at European level were contacted and ESI model presented. A financing structure for energy efficiency investments using the ESI model was designed for Italy, Portugal and Spain and key financial instruments have been identified and linked to the ESI Europe programme.

In addition to the development of the ESI model elements, a commercial brand has been created to communicate to final consumers: \"\"GoSafe with ESI\"\" comprises all ESI model elements and creates trust and credibility for clients considering an investment in energy efficiency.\"

Final results

As an innovative market-based solution, the ESI Europe project creates new market dynamics that drive investments in energy efficiency. It is expected that the ESI model in Italy, Portugal and Spain will generate the following impacts (i) 1,665 stakeholders with increased capacity after lifetime of the project; (ii) between â‚¬978.6m and â‚¬1,711m private investment mobilised in energy efficiency projects within six years of project start; and (iii) corresponding primary energy savings of between 1,582 and 2,766 GWh/year generated after six years of project start.