Page 17 - European Energy Innovation - Winter 2016 publication

Winter 2016 European Energy Innovation
to stimulate cost-effective investments
in energy efficiency.
In the coming months, I will be
focusing much of my own efforts
in Parliament on the proposal for a
new Effort Sharing Regulation for the
period 2021 - 2030, which deals with
emissions in the non-ETS sector. This
is a crucial piece of legislation in terms makes such undertakings seem not
of meeting our 40% GHG reduction
target by 2030 which we pledged in
Paris last year at COP21.
There is no getting around this - the
40% target is one that we cannot afford
to miss. In the non-ETS sector we are
looking for a 30% reduction by 2030
compared to 2005 levels, but current
policies would see a reduction of
just 24%. For this reason is absolutely
crucial that we set the required
high level of ambition, and energy
efficiency has a key role to play in this. These are schemes that I think need to
Big improvements are needed in
Europe’s buildings, 75% of which are
currently considered to be inefficient.
Buildings account for 40% of final
energy consumption in Europe and
an enormous amount of this is wasted
due to buildings not performing
efficiently. Our legislative work in the
coming months needs to ensure that
we set the right framework to make
investment into Energy Efficiency
projects happen, and I look forward to
the challenge ahead.
Part of the challenge is finance. We
have a problem in Europe in that
investments that should be economical
are not being made. Despite the
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17
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
various EU funding instruments, there
remains a lack of attractive options
for energy efficiency financing.
There is simply a lack of availability
of finance for such investments, and
this can be attributed mainly to the
longer payback period and a higher
perceived risk associated with energy
efficiency investments. This essentially
worthwhile to your typical homeowner.
Something that can really help this
issue, and we are seeing examples of
it pop up around Europe now, is the
idea of an on-bill repayment scheme.
In this system, a customer would be
able to have the energy efficiency
work undertaken on their home, often
without an upfront cost, while the
payment is made over time through
the utility bill.
be made more available and we need
to better promote them. In Ireland, for
example, a recent study showed that
almost half of Irish consumers would
consider taking out a loan to pay for
energy efficiency improvements. This
pay-as-you-save idea could be a game
changer for stimulating investment in
energy efficiency projects and I think
we need to support and enable it as
much as possible.
In terms of mobilising finance, since
it was announced in November 2014,
I’ve been extremely interested in
how the European Fund for Strategic
Investments (EFSI) could be used
for energy efficiency investments,
particularly in buildings. For this reason the fight against Climate Change. l
I am excited by the new EFSI-backed
EIB funding for an Energy Efficiency
project in France. Under this project,
€400 million will be made available
to trigger the needed investment
for energy efficiency renovations for
private homes in France on a large
scale.
Regions in France will set up
specialised companies to provide
assistance and packaged solutions
to homeowners for the retrofitting of
their homes, and it is reported that up
to 40,000 flats and houses will be able
to benefit. I truly hope this initiative
is a resounding success as I think it
could provide the blueprint for similar
projects across Europe.
This is a great example of what EFSI
has the potential to do if we use it
effectively. I think this model, the
grouping together of smaller schemes
for funding under EFSI, has the
potential to really drive the renovation
of buildings in the EU which will
greatly assist us both in terms of
reducing emissions, and lowering
energy costs for end-users. I hope to
see something similar in Ireland in the
not too distant future.
I think it is clear that Energy Efficiency
has a vital role to play reducing energy
demand in Europe and hence help us
to meet our targets. As I prepare, at the
time of writing, to depart for Marrakesh
where I will represent the European
Parliament at COP22, there is no better
time than now to highlight this crucial
topic and the important role it has in