Availability of qualification, accreditation and certification schemes
1. Member States shall set up a network ensuring the appropriate level of competences for energy efficiency-related professions that corresponds to market needs. Member States, in close cooperation with the social partners, shall ensure that certification or equivalent qualification schemes, including, where necessary, suitable training programmes, are available for energy efficiency-related professions including providers of energy services, providers of energy audits, energy managers, independent experts, installers of building elements as referred to in Directive 2010/31/EU, and providers of integrated renovation works, and are reliable and contribute to national energy efficiency objectives and the overall Union decarbonisation objectives.
Member States shall ensure that providers of certification or equivalent qualification schemes, including, where necessary, suitable training programmes are accredited in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 47 ) or approved in line with converging national legislation or standards.
2. Member States shall promote participation in certification, training and education programmes to ensure the appropriate level of competences for energy efficiency professions that correspond to market needs.
3. By 11 October 2024, the Commission shall:
(a)
in cooperation with a group of experts nominated by Member States, set up a framework for or design a campaign to attract more people to energy efficiency professions while ensuring respect for the principle of non-discrimination;
(b)
assess the viability of setting up a single point of access platform, making use of existing initiatives where possible, to provide support to the Member States in setting up their measures to ensure the appropriate level of qualified professionals needed to keep up with the pace of progress in energy efficiency to reach the Union’s climate and energy targets. The platform would gather experts from Member States, the social partners, education institutions, academia and other relevant stakeholders to foster and promote best practices of qualification schemes and training programmes to ensure more energy efficiency professionals and to re-skill or up-skill existing professionals in order to meet market needs.
4. Member States shall ensure that national certification, or equivalent qualification schemes, including, where necessary, training programmes, take into account existing European or international standards on energy efficiency.
5. Member States shall make publicly available the certification, equivalent qualification schemes or suitable training programmes referred to in paragraph 1, and shall cooperate among themselves and with the Commission on comparisons between, and recognition of, the schemes.
Member States shall take appropriate measures to make consumers aware of the availability of the schemes in accordance with Article 29(1).
6. By 31 December 2024 and at least every four years thereafter, Member States shall assess whether the schemes ensure the necessary level of competences and equal access to all individuals in accordance with the principle of non-discrimination for energy services providers, energy auditors, energy managers, independent experts, installers of building elements as referred to in Directive 2010/31/EU, and providers of integrated renovation works. Member States shall also assess the gap between available and in demand professionals. Member States shall make the assessment and recommendations thereof publicly available and submit them through the e-platform established in accordance with Article 28 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999.
Energy services
1. Member States shall promote the energy services market and access to it for SMEs by disseminating clear and easily accessible information on:
(a)
available energy service contracts and clauses that should be included in such contracts to guarantee energy savings and final customers’ rights;
(b)
financial instruments, incentives, grants, revolving funds, guarantees, insurance schemes, and loans to support energy efficiency service projects;
(c)
available energy services providers, such as ESCOs, that are qualified or certified and their qualifications or certifications in accordance with Article 28;
(d)
available monitoring and verification methodologies and quality control schemes.
2. Member States shall encourage the development of quality labels, inter alia, by trade associations, based on European or international standards where relevant.
3. Member States shall make publicly available and regularly update a list of available energy service providers that are qualified or certified and their qualifications or certifications in accordance with Article 28, or provide an interface where energy service providers can provide that information.
4. Member States shall promote and ensure, where technically and economically feasible, the use of energy performance contracting for renovations of large buildings that are owned by public bodies. For renovations of large non-residential buildings with a total useful floor area above 750 m 2 , Member States shall ensure that public bodies assess the feasibility of using energy performance contracting and other performance-based energy services.
Member States may encourage public bodies to combine energy performance contracting with expanded energy services, including demand response and storage, in order to ensure energy savings and maintain the results obtained over time through continuous monitoring, effective operation and maintenance.
5. Member States shall support the public sector in taking up energy service offers, in particular for building refurbishment, by:
(a)
providing model contracts for energy performance contracting which include at least the items listed in Annex XV and take into account the existing European or international standards, available tendering guidelines and the Eurostat guide to the statistical treatment of energy performance contracts in government accounts;
(b)
providing information on best practices for energy performance contracting, including, if available, a cost-benefit analysis using a life-cycle approach;
(c)
promoting and making publicly available a database of implemented and ongoing energy performance contracting projects that includes the projected and achieved energy savings.
6. Member States shall support the proper functioning of the energy services market, by taking the following measures:
(a)
identifying and publicising one or more points of contact where final customers can obtain the information referred to in paragraph 1;
(b)
removing the regulatory and non-regulatory barriers that impede the uptake of energy performance contracting and other energy efficiency service models for the identification or implementation of energy saving measures, or both;
(c)
setting up and promoting the role of advisory bodies and independent market intermediaries including one-stop shops or similar support mechanisms to stimulate market development on the demand and supply sides, and making information about those support mechanisms publicly available and accessible to market actors.
7. For the purpose of supporting the proper functioning of the energy services market, Member States may establish an individual mechanism or designate an ombudsperson to ensure the efficient handling of complaints and out-of-court settlement of disputes arising from energy service and energy performance contracts.
8. Member States shall ensure that energy distributors, distribution system operators and retail energy sales companies refrain from any activities that may impede the demand for and delivery of energy services or energy efficiency improvement measures, or hinder the development of markets for such services or measures, including foreclosing the market for competitors or abusing dominant positions.
National energy efficiency fund, financing and technical support
1. Without prejudice to Articles 107 and 108 TFEU, Member States shall facilitate the establishment of financing facilities, or the use of existing ones, for energy efficiency improvement measures to maximise the benefits of multiple streams of financing and the combination of grants, financial instruments and technical assistance.
2. The Commission shall, where appropriate, directly or via financial institutions, assist Member States in setting up financing facilities and project development assistance facilities at national, regional or local level with the aim of increasing investments in energy efficiency in different sectors and of protecting and empowering people affected by energy poverty, vulnerable customers, people in low-income households and, where applicable, people living in social housing, including by integrating an equality perspective so that no one is left behind.
3. Member States shall adopt measures that promote energy efficiency lending products, such as green mortgages and green loans, secured and unsecured, and ensure that they are offered widely and in a non-discriminatory manner by financial institutions and, are visible and accessible to consumers. Member States shall adopt measures to facilitate the implementation of on-bill and on-tax financing schemes, taking into account the Commission guidance provided in accordance with paragraph 10. Member States shall ensure that banks and other financial institutions receive information on opportunities to participate in the financing of energy efficiency improvement measures, including through the creation of public-private partnerships. Member States shall encourage the setting up of loan guarantee facilities for energy efficiency investment.
4. Without prejudice to Articles 107 and 108 TFEU, Member States shall promote the establishment of financial support schemes to increase the uptake of energy efficiency improvement measures for the substantial refurbishment of individual and district heating and cooling systems.
5. Member States shall promote the establishment of local expertise and technical assistance, where appropriate through existing networks and facilities, to advise on best practices with regard to achieving the decarbonisation of local district heating and cooling, such as access to dedicated financial support.
6. The Commission shall facilitate the exchange of best practices between the competent national or regional authorities or bodies, including through annual meetings of the regulatory bodies, public databases with information on the implementation of measures by Member States, and cross-country comparisons.
7. In order to mobilise private financing for energy efficiency measures and energy renovation and to contribute to the achievement the Union’s energy efficiency targets and of the national contributions pursuant to Article 4 of this Directive and of the objectives in Directive 2010/31/EU, the Commission shall conduct a dialogue with both public and private financial institutions, as well as relevant specific sectors in order to map out needs and possible actions it can take.
8. The actions referred to in paragraph 7 shall include the following elements:
(a)
mobilising capital investment into energy efficiency by considering the wider impacts of energy savings;
(b)
facilitating the implementation of dedicated energy efficiency financial instruments and financing schemes at scale to be set up by financial institutions;
(c)
ensuring better energy and finance performance data by:
(i)
examining further how energy efficiency investments improve underlying asset values;
(ii)
supporting studies to assess the monetisation of the non-energy benefits of energy efficiency investments.
9. For the purpose of mobilising private financing of energy efficiency measures and energy renovation, Member States shall, when implementing this Directive:
(a)
consider ways to make better use of energy management systems and energy audits under Article 11 to influence decision-making;
(b)
make optimal use of the possibilities and tools available in the Union budget and proposed in the smart finance for smart buildings initiative and in Commission communication of 14 October 2020 on ‘A Renovation Wave for Europe – greening our buildings, creating jobs, improving lives’.
10. By 31 December 2024, the Commission shall provide guidance for Member States and market actors on how to unlock private investment.
The guidance shall have the purpose of helping Member States and market actors to develop and implement their energy efficiency investments, including in the various Union programmes, and shall propose adequate financial mechanisms and innovative financing solutions, with a combination of grants, financial instruments and project development assistance, to scale up existing initiatives and use the Union programmes as a catalyst to leverage and trigger private financing.
11. Member States may set up a national energy efficiency fund. The purpose of this fund shall be to implement energy efficiency measures to support Member States in meeting their national energy efficiency contributions and their indicative trajectories referred to in Article 4(2). The national energy efficiency fund may be established as a dedicated fund within an already existing national facility promoting capital investments. The national energy efficiency fund may be financed with revenues from the allowance auctions pursuant to the EU ETS on buildings and transport sectors.
12. Where Member States set up national energy efficiency funds, as referred to in paragraph 11 of this Article, they shall establish financing instruments, including public guarantees, to increase the uptake of private investments in energy efficiency and of the energy efficiency lending products and innovative schemes referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article. Pursuant to Article 8(3) and Article 24, the national energy efficiency fund shall support the implementation of measures as a priority among people affected by energy poverty, vulnerable customers, people in low-income households and, where applicable, people living in social housing. That support shall include financing for energy efficiency measures for SMEs in order to leverage and trigger private financing for SMEs.
13. Member States may allow public bodies to fulfil the obligations set out in Article 6(1) by means of annual contributions to the national energy efficiency fund equivalent to the amount of the investments required to achieve those obligations.
14. Member States may provide that obligated parties can fulfil their obligations set out in Article 8(1) and (4) by contributing every year to the national energy efficiency fund an amount equal to the investments required to achieve those obligations.
15. Member States may use their revenues from annual emission allocations under Decision No 406/2009/EC for the development of innovative financing for energy efficiency improvements.
16. The Commission shall assess the effectiveness and efficiency of energy efficiency public funding support at Union and national level and the Member States’ capacity to increase the uptake of private investments in energy efficiency, while also taking into account public financing needs expressed in the national energy and climate plans. The Commission shall evaluate whether an energy efficiency mechanism at Union level, with the objective of providing a Union guarantee, technical assistance and associated grants to enable the implementation of financial instruments, and financing and support schemes at national level, could support in a cost-effective way the achievement of the Union energy efficiency and climate targets, and, if appropriate, propose the establishment of such a mechanism.
To that end, the Commission shall submit by 30 March 2024 a report to the European Parliament and to the Council, accompanied, where appropriate, by legislative proposals.
17. Member States shall report to the Commission by 15 March 2025 and every two years thereafter, as part of their integrated national energy and climate progress reports submitted pursuant to Article 17 and in accordance with Article 21 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999, the following data:
(a)
the volume of public investments on energy efficiency and the average leverage factor achieved by public funding supporting energy efficiency measures;
(b)
the volume of energy efficiency lending products, distinguishing between different products;
(c)
where relevant, national financing programmes put in place to increase uptake of energy efficiency and best practices, and innovative financing schemes for energy efficiency.
To facilitate the preparation of the report referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph, the Commission shall integrate the requirements set out in that subparagraph in the common template laid down in the implementing acts adopted pursuant to Article 17(4) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999.
18. For the purpose of fulfilling the obligation referred to in paragraph 17, point (b), and without prejudice to additional national measures, Member States shall take into consideration the existing disclosure obligations for financial institutions, including:
(a)
the disclosure rules for credit institutions under Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2178 ( 48 ) ;
(b)
the ESG risks disclosure requirements for credit institutions in accordance with Article 449a of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 49 ) .
To facilitate the collection and aggregation of data on volume of energy efficiency lending product for the purpose of fulfilling the obligation referred to in paragraph 17, point (b), the Commission shall by 15 March 2024 provide guidance to Member States on the arrangements for accessing, collecting and aggregating data on the volume of energy efficiency lending products at national level.
Conversion factors and primary energy factors
1. For the purpose of comparison of energy savings and conversion to a comparable unit, the net calorific values in Annex VI of Regulation (EU) 2018/2066 and the primary energy factors set out in paragraph 2 of this Article shall apply unless the use of other values or factors can be justified.
2. A primary energy factor shall be applicable when energy savings are calculated in primary energy terms using a bottom-up approach based on final energy consumption.
3. For savings in kWh electricity, Member States shall apply a coefficient in order to accurately calculate the resulting primary energy consumption savings. Member States shall apply a default coefficient of 1,9 unless they use their discretion to define a different coefficient based upon justified national circumstances.
4. For savings in kWh of other energy carriers, Member States shall apply a coefficient in order to accurately calculate the resulting primary energy consumption savings.
5. Where Member States establish their own coefficient to a default value provided pursuant to this Directive, Member States shall establish that coefficient through a transparent methodology on the basis of national, regional or local circumstances affecting primary energy consumption. The circumstances shall be substantiated, verifiable and based on objective and non-discriminatory criteria.
6. Where establishing an own coefficient, Member States shall take into account the energy mix included in the update of their integrated national energy and climate plans submitted pursuant to Article 14(2) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 and their subsequent integrated national energy and climate plans notified to the Commission pursuant to Article 3 and Articles 7 to 12 of that Regulation. If they deviate from the default value, Member States shall notify the coefficient that they use to the Commission along with the calculation methodology and underlying data in those updates and subsequent plans.
7. By 25 December 2026 and every four years thereafter, the Commission shall revise the default coefficients on the basis of observed data. Those revisions shall be carried out taking into account its effects on Union law such as Directive 2009/125/EC and Regulation (EU) 2017/1369.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
