Τhe Commission has this week launched 2 new calls for evidence relating to investment for energy efficiency. The first is on assessing the level of EU & national funding for energy efficiency and will feed into a report from the Commission by the end of 2024 on the concept of an EU mechanism for facilitating investment – leading to a legislative proposal, if deemed appropriate. The second is a call for evidence on how to increase private investment in energy efficiency to meet the new EU targets for 2030. The contributions will help inform the Commission’s preparation of a “Guidance” document to EU countries and market actors on “unlocking private investment in energy efficiency”, due for publication by the end of 2024. Both exercises are linked to Article 30 of the recently adopted recast Energy Efficiency Directive EU/2023/1791 and aim to address the apparent gap between forecast investment and investment requirements linked to achieving the EU targets.
The need to assess the level of EU and national funding stems from the important role that public funding can play in leveraging private funds. With a view to deploying financing at the needed scale, Article 30 of the Directive requests EU countries to facilitate the establishment of financing facilities dedicated to energy efficiency investments. It states that the Commission will evaluate the current state of public funding support and the capacity of EU countries to increase the uptake of private investments in energy efficiency. In this context, the Commission is also mandated to evaluate whether an energy efficiency mechanism is needed at EU level. In principle, this should take the form of a report to the European Parliament and the Council by the end of 2024, which may be followed, if appropriate, by a legislative proposal.
The Guidance document on private investment is intended to help EU countries and market actors develop energy efficiency investments. It should propose adequate financial mechanisms and solutions - combining grants, financial instruments and project development assistance to scale up existing initiatives and use EU programmes as a catalyst to leverage and trigger private financing. It should also address possible national measures to facilitate the implementation of innovative financing schemes – on-tax, on-bill and third-party financing – as well as measures to promote energy efficiency lending products.
Available in all 24 official EU languages, both calls for evidence are open until 26 February. As part of the ongoing consultation process, the Directorate-General for Energy is also organising an online stakeholder workshop on Thursday 8 February 2024.
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Details
- Publication date
- 30 January 2024
- Author
- Directorate-General for Energy