De-risking Energy Efficiency Investments
Energy efficiency is not yet considered as an attractive investment by the financial sector which limits the possibility to use external private finance on top of equity of project owners and available public funding. The lack of statistical data on the actual energy and costs savings achieved by energy efficiency investment projects, as well as on payment default rates, results in financial institutions attributing high risk premiums to energy efficiency investments. Whereas energy efficiency investments are usually expected to be paid back exclusively through the reduction of the energy bill, there is increasing evidence that non-energy benefits play a key role in the decision to invest in energy efficiency. This includes for instance increased building value, lower tenant turnover or vacancy rates etc.
Triple-A in cooperation with EENVEST and QUEST H2020 projects organised the online workshop "De-risking Energy Efficiency Investments" on the Thursday 29th October at 13.00 - 14.30, virtually.
The workshop was organised within the framework of Sustainable Places 2020 conference and presented innovative solutions, developed by the aforementioned H2020 research projects, aiming to make energy efficiency investments more attractive for the financial sector.
In particular, innovative solutions that have be presented were among others the following:
- labelling schemes, project rating methodologies and risk assessment tools, standardised legal and financial structures of assets (loans, guarantees, energy performance contracts etc.);
- gathering, processing and disclosing large-scale data on actual financial performance of energy efficiency investments, in order to create a track record for energy efficiency in different sectors;
- further integration of non-energy benefits in project valuation, in particular in the building sector, leading to evolution of existing financial products or creation of new targeted products;
- targeting institutional investors (e.g. public pension schemes) in order to increase the share of their funds invested in energy efficiency, or to develop specific funds or investment products;
- supporting the integration of energy efficiency in portfolio management strategies for institutional investors and/or fund managers, including through re-definition of fiduciary duties.
In the workshop, the Triple-A approach on assessing the financing instruments and risks at an early stage of an energy efficiency project, on identifying the “Triple-A” investments, based on selected key performance indicators and on assign the identified investment ideas to possible financing schemes have be presented.
Participating European Commission Project Officer : Stavros Stamatoukos, Project Advisor at EASME
Chairs of the workshop : Annalisa Andaloro (EURAC) & Rachel Desmaris (R2M Solution)
Download the Agenda here.
Presentations:
- “Welcome statement” Stavros Stamatoukos, Project Advisor at EASME, European Commission
- “Introduction of the overall objective of the workshop” Rachel Desmaris, R2M Solution
- “EENVEST” Annalisa Andaloro, EURAC (PDF)
- “Triple-A” Haris Doukas, NTUA (PDF)
- “QUEST” Stefan Plesser, SYNAVISION (PDF)
- “Discussion on horizontal questions”
- “Identification of cooperation opportunities for upcoming months, and next steps” Rachel Desmaris, R2M Solution
- “Conclusion” Annalisa Andaloro, EURAC & European Commission
