Recap of REFINE AT THE WORLD SUSTAINABLE ENERGY DAYS 2023
The World Sustainable Energy Days is a major event in the energy efficiency calendar and one that brings experts and leaders from the sector together to share the latest developments and research in energy efficiency. The conference returned to Wels, Austria this year with the theme of ‘Energy Transition = Energy Security’ which is a goal that directly aligns with the work of the REFINE project and so our project partners were delighted to take part in the event’s European Energy Efficiency Conference. Alongside fellow project FinEERGo-Dom, the two H2020 project came together to host a joint roundtable focused on ‘Supporting EPC and energy efficiency service (EES) providers in decarbonising buildings’.
Overall, this was a particularly important event for REFINE as the project will conclude in May this year. The session opened with a welcome address from Paweł Mirowski from the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFOSiGW) in Poland followed by an introduction to the REFINE project by coordinator Klemens Leutgöb from e7 energy innovation and engineering who also moderated the session. REFINE was delighted to have its project officer, Céline Tougeron speak on behalf of CINEA from the European Commission with various opportunities and programmes to support further research in the energy efficiency sector. Finally, the roundtable had some interesting external insights including BNP Paribas Bank Polska who presented from the financial institution standpoint and finally, a panel discussion with inputs from Enerqos (Italy), Reenag (Austria) and Funding for Future (Latvia).
Throughout the roundtable, REFINE partners presented some of their key findings on refinancing for energy efficiency projects. This included results from real-life pilot applications of the REFINE tools and solutions with energy efficiency service providers across Europe. Stay tuned for a complete overview of the project’s pilot applications which will be available on our website very soon. Overall, the discussions and presentations from the REFINE and FinEERGo-Dom speakers on the day provided valuable results and opportunities for the core target groups of REFINE including:
- EES Providers
- Financial institutions with a focus on green financing
- Facilitation service providers in the EES market
- EE policymakers
With REFINE focusing on the creation of a robust energy efficiency finance market while FinEERGO-Dom delivers expert findings for the building renovation sector, these contributions from both projects will help drive Europe even further towards its climate targets.
The presentations from the project speakers on the day can be found below in running order. If you decide to use any of the material within the presentations please credit the related project and author(s).
If you joined us at this year’s WSED, thank you! If you missed out but would like to know more on any of the topics discussed please get in contact here.
|
Speaker |
Presentation |
| Céline Tougeron, European Commission, CINEA | European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) |
| Marta Babicz, NFOSiGW, Poland | The EPC+ priority programme for deep renovation |
| Jana Szomolányiová & Jarslav Marouŝek, SEVEn, Czech Republic | Multi-source financing to boost deep renovation using EES |
| Marek Tobiacelli, KAPE, Poland | Attitudes, expectation and possibilities of service providers |
| Nicholas Stancioff, KAPE, Poland | Lessons learned for boosting EPC markets |
| Anna Gazda, PNB Paribas Bank, Poland | Upscaling private investments in residential buildings |
REFINE Project
REFINE is an EU-funded H2020 project that aims to contribute to the supply of sufficient and attractive financing sources for energy efficiency investments by enhancing the refinanceability of EES projects and amplifying the use of refinancing schemes in EES business practice. In order for the European Union to achieve its energy and climate goals by 2030, significant investment is required to make energy efficiency projects more attractive for potential investors and financial institutions. In that context, the EU-funded REFINE project has identified the lack of attractive financing options for EES projects as a major barrier to the development of a functioning, robust EES market in Europe.
REFINE has developed its solutions in collaboration with key stakeholders including financial institutions, EES providers, market facilitators and guarantee funds. Using their expertise, the REFINE solution aims to identify and alleviate the risks associated with refinancing for EES projects and enable EES providers to clean up their balance sheet, thus allowing for future investment in new projects.
FinEERGO-Dom Project
FinEERGo-Dom is an ambitious 4-year project that refines and implements guaranteed financing schemes for energy efficiency and renewable energy in deep renovations of buildings in Poland, Austria, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria. The project builds on the experience of the Latvian Building Energy Efficiency Facility (LABEEF), the original Building Energy Efficiency (BEEF) Facility deployed successfully in Latvia. LABEEF is based on an existing example providing 20 year Guaranteed Performance contracts to owners through an On-Bill payment scheme.
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