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ESCOs in Europe

Relevant policy developments in the European Union and highlights of the ESCOs in Europe status report

2005

Paolo Bertoldi, European Commission, Directorate General JRC

Silvia Rezessy,Central European University

13 December 2005, Kaunas

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Introduction• In the last decade Europe has seen an increased interest in the provision of

energy services driven by electricity and gas market restructuring and the push for sustainability;

• There is a very different level of development of the ESCO industry (in terms of e.g. types of services, size and turnover of ESCOs, number of ESCOs) in the various European countries. The differences in level of development are due, among other, to the pro-active national and local promotion programmes as well as the introduction of project financing;

• The electricity and gas liberalisation process is on-going, and the status of opening of the markets varies from MS to MS;

• Relevant recent policy developments: the Kyoto Protocol entered into force, the start of the EU ETS, the draft directive on EE&ES, the EPBD, the Green Paper on EE;

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Strucuture of the presentation

• Relevant European policy developments: the draft directive on EE & ES, EPBD;

• Highlights from the ESCOs in Europe status report 2005.

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Background EE&ES Directive• EU security of supply and Kyoto Commitment;

• EU savings potential >20%; 1%/yr target possible in all M.S.;

• Demand-side not addressed in Internal Market Directives;

• Need for umbrella for existing & proposed energy efficiency legislation (EPBD, CHP, Eco-design, etc);

• Legal basis Art. 175 (1) - environmental protection;

• Also need for harmonisation of energy efficiency & energy services in internal market.

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Objectives of the EE&ES Directive

• To promote cost-effective energy efficiency with targets, mechanisms, incentives, institutional, financial & legal frameworks;

• To develop a commercially viable market for energy efficiency and energy services (market transformation)

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Scope

• Covers energy suppliers (distributors and/or retailers) of: electricity, n.gas, heating and cooling, heating oil, coal, lignite, transport fuels, forestry & agri. energy products & waste (may exclude < 50 GWh/year);

• End-use sectors include:-domestic, agricultural, public and tertiary sectors.-non-energy intensive industries (ET sectors excl.).

-transport (excl. aviation and foreign shipping).

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Content 1/3: the target• 1 % annual overall target

-indicative 9 % over BAU in nine years (2008-2017);-Governments to prepare energy efficiency action plans by

2007, 2011, 2014, the EC will assess each action plans;- the first of these plans will have to include a national

indicative energy savings target for 2011;-public authorities to play an "exemplary role". -harmonised energy efficiency indicators and benchmarks

(agreement announced on 7 Dec. 2005, final text not yet released, needs to be formally ratified by the Parliament and Council before it can enter into force)

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Content 2/3: calculating the target

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Energy Savings y6

Energy Savings y5

Energy Savings y4

Energy Savings y3

Energy Savings y2

Energy Savings y1

Calculated TargetBaseline

Energy End-UseConsumption

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Measures under the Directive on Energy Performance of Buildings (EPBD)

• The general framework for a methodology of calculation of the integrated energy performance of buildings;

• Application of minimum requirements on the energy performance of new buildings and of large existing buildings subject to major renovation;

• Energy certification of buildings; and

• Regular inspection of boilers and of air-conditioning systems in buildings and in addition an assessment of the heating installation in which the boilers are more than 15 years old.

EPBD defines legal framework, MS obliged to adopt the measures foreseen in the EPBD in their own legal system

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Building certification schemes (Article 7)• To facilitate the transfer of clear and reliable information on the

energy performance of buildings

• Energy performance certificates for most new and existing buildings when they are constructed, sold or rented out

• Certificates not older than 10 years, include advice on how to improve the energy performance

• Public buildings: In large and publicly owned, occupied or frequently visited buildings, certificates must be displayed

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Inspection and assessment of heating & cooling installations (Art. 8 & 9)

Heating Systems• Regular inspection of oil-fired boilers (20 kW and 100 k, gas

optional)• Inspection every 2 years for boilers over 100 kW (for gas,

may be 4 years)• The entire heating installations should be inspected for

boilers larger than 20 kW and older than 15 years

Cooling systems• Similar measures, above 12 kW

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Content of the status report on ESCOs in Europe prepared by theEuropean Commission DG JRC

• Concise definitions of the terminology used in relation to the provision of energy services;

• Review of the current status of the ESCO industry in Europe and project specifics of the most common types of activities;

• Analysis the features of the ESCO industry in selected EU Member States and NACs on country-by-country basis;

• Identification of areas where concerted efforts at national as well as European level are expected to further foster the development of the ESCO industry in Europe.

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Energy service provider companies

• ESPCs provide energy services to final energy users,

• ESPCs are consulting engineers specialised in efficiency improvements and providing a service for a fixed fee for their advice (and not being paid based on the results of their recommendations).

• Because often the full cost of energy services is recovered in the fee, the ESPC does not assume any risk in case of underperformance.

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Energy service companiesAn ESCO also offers the same services; however, an ESCO differs

from an ESPC in the following ways:

• ESCOs guarantee the energy savings (a performance guarantee can revolve around the actual flow of energy savings from a project, or can stipulate that the energy savings will be sufficient to repay monthly debt service costs).

• The remuneration of ESCOs is directly tied to the energy savings achieved;

• ESCOs can finance, or assist in arranging financing for the operation of an energy system by providing a savings guarantee.

• Retains an on-going operational role in M&V over the financing term

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Еnergy performance contracting

• Under an EPC arrangement an ESCO implements a EE or RES project and uses the stream of income from the stream of income from the cost savingscost savings, or the renewable energy produced, to repay the costs of the project, including the costs of the investment.

• The ESCO will not receive its payment unless the project delivers energy savings as expected.

• Different ways to structure a contract: shared and guaranteed savings, first-out. BOOT, chauffage and leasing also deserve attention

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ESCOs in Europe: general characteristics • Most ESCOs have been founded either by large companies or as

subsidiaries of large companies (equipment manufacturers, facility management companies, operation, management and construction companies or energy utilities);

• Under EPC arrangements ESCOs have so far provided financing themselves (mainly large ones with deep pockets in France, Italy and Germany). Threat of illiquid markets and lock out of small companies.

• Only recently have more ESCOs started implementing EPC using TPF: no matter that almost all ESCO projects in Europe have been based on the shared savings concept;

• The market is segmented in ‘functionally specialised’ companies;

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ESCO projects

• The majority of ESCOs’ projects in EU MS have focused on co-generation; public lighting; HVAC and EMS.

• The majority of ESCO projects in Europe have been undertaken in the public sector.

• The recent energy industry restructuring has stimulated projects in CHP for large commercial centers, hospitals, and industrial facilities (BOOT contracts).

• It has also triggered public lighting projects, where municipalities tendered lighting operation, including the supply of electricity.

• In many cases ESCOs are more interested in the business of selling energy or equipment than in exploiting the financial opportunities of energy savings.

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Criteria for passing contracts** Based on 51 responses

Maximum contract duration

up to 5 years13,7%

5-15 years64,7%

more than 15 years21,6%

Minimum annual energy bill (in Euro)

up to 10,000 Euro

10,53%

10,000-50,00029,82%

50,000-100,00031,58%

more than 100,00028,07%

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Country Development: preliminary ranking

Premier league: high

Second league: medium

Third league: low

Spain, Sweden, Czech Republic

Italy

Germany, Austria

Hungary, France, the UK (?)

All other European countries

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Country Survey: Germany

• Germany, together with Austria, is the most mature ESCO market in the EU;

• There are around 480 ESCOs with an overall annual turnover of about 3 billion Euro. Energy services are being implemented at 120,000 sites in 2003, estimated to be less than 9 % of the existing market potential;

• The sector attracting most attention is public buildings primarily due to the support of energy agencies and the restructuring of building administrations towards outsourcing of energy-related operational tasks;

• The financial and technical support is shared between non-government programs (e.g. credit programs by eco-banks, efficiency checks by energy agencies, and boiler replacement by utilities), and government programs (e.g. loan /funding schemes, R&D programs, and incentive programs for renewable energy);

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Country Survey: Austria• To date the energy efficiency of about 600 to 700 buildings has been

improved via EPC, as compared to almost zero in 1998; these buildings represent roughly 6-7 % of all public and private service building sector (about 4% of total floor area;

• The main customers and driving forces are the federal building administration (BIG); a few large cities (Vienna, Graz, Salzburg); and some small and medium-sized municipalities. Private commercial buildings are not typical EPC customers;

• Replication in federal buildings: 300 - 400 buildings (about 50% of total floor area of federal buildings), already 12 pools in operation

• There are around 35 ESCOs;

• In Austria, as in Germany and Spain, the regional and the national energy agencies played a crucial role in the development of ESCOs.

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Country Survey: France• Co-generation is a good example of EPC in France. The main line of

expansion has been outsourced co-generation where HVAC operators provide full service and guarantees to the host company at reduced price for heat. Co-generation is the ‘Trojan horse’ used by new independent producers to obtain market share.

• The current contracts of facility management are concentrated primarily in the tertiary sector.

• France is a strong believer in the shared savings concept and chauffage contracts.

• The French market is rather well developed, although very ‘special’ and largely dominated by a few very large companies.

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Country Survey: Hungary• There are 29 ESCOs. The larger ESCOs are mainly multinational companies.

More than two-thirds of ESCO customers are municipalities. Most projects target DH and public lighting; recently industrial projects;

• Various trends over the years: earlier public lighting projects were most common, today CHPs (typically gas turbine based) are in the spotlight (feed-in for electricity generated in CHP);

• The utility-based ESCOs are developing very intensively (utilities can go around their territorial monopolies);

• Mostly supply side: ‘pure’ demand-side projects are rather difficult in CEE (esp. in the industrial sector), comprehensive solutions are offered to fix the whole system e.g. combining on-site co- or tri-generation with ESCO services;.

• Banks and credit institutions are very active in financing ESCO projects.

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Country survey: other European countries

• ESCO development moving fast in Sweden and Finland, some ESCO activity in Norway, Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal. Hardly any ESCO projects in Greece and Ireland.

• Among NMS ESCO businesses are successful in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and taking off the ground in Estonia. Limited activity in Poland (bad early experience), Slovenia, Latvia and Lithuania as well as in NACs. No ESCO activity in Malta and Cyprus.

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Energy efficiency frontrunners and ESCO laggards: the cases of Denmark and the Netherlands

Provisions for mandatory DSM together with numerous projects implemented by the national energy agency have left little space for commercial ESCOs.

• In the Netherlands some utilities offer energy management and energy service contracts; as of 2002, EPC was non-existent;

• In Denmark provisions for mandatory DSM together with the activities of the national energy agency and the national energy saving trust in terms of project implementation have left little space for ESCOs.

Energy efficiency can be done by means other than ESCO development!

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The way ahead (1)

• Increase information about energy-efficiency projects, financing opportunities, and services offered by ESCOs;

• Demonstrate successful applications of the ESCO concept, applications of energy-efficient technologies, and EPC, and creating areas of expertise in ESCO development;

• Use public procurement for turnkey energy efficiency equipment installation and services.

• Promote EPC in governmental buildings;

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The way ahead (2)

• Launch an Accreditation System for ESCOs;

• Standardise contracts and M&V;

• Develop financing sources;

• Develop a European TPF network.

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Conclusions (1)

• The provision of energy services is a growing industry that involves a diversity of enterprises and covers a variety of activities; the current status of the ESCO industry in different countries shows significant differences.

• Supply side at present is attracting the lion’s share of ESCO’s attention (CHP the most common type of project); at the demand side streetlighting projects are common. Projects in buildings still need policy support;

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Conclusions (2)

• In the long term, a combination of legislative measures coupled with strategic actions to foster both the demand for and the supply of energy services could trigger a wide expansion of the ESCO business in all European countries

• Energy-efficiency projects offer a very cost-effective approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions: will EU ETS through the Kyoto flexible mechanisms take them up?

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The report is available for downloadedfrom the web

http://energyefficiency.jrc.cec.eu.int/esco.htm

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The European online ESCO

database

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ESCO support information on the JRC energy efficiency portal:http://energyefficiency.jrc.cec.eu.int/ESCO/esco.htm

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Thank you for your attention!

More information about the “ESCOs in Europe 2005”“ESCOs in Europe 2005” status report and the European ESCO database can be obtained

from

Paolo Bertoldi: Paolo.Bertoldi@cec.eu.int

Silvia Rezessy: Ephlas01@phd.ceu.hu

or online at: http://energyefficiency.jrc.cec.eu.int/esco.htm