Opportunities and challenges of energy performance contracting in the Italian market for energy efficiency services.

Abstract

The improvement of energy efficiency entails important benefits both for the individual user, owner of the infrastructure, and for the community in general. In fact, Energy Efficiency is a strategic priority of the European Union. However, the great potential deriving from energy efficiency is currently untapped. The reason for this gap is essentially due to the reluctance of customers to commit financial resources for these projects. The EPC scheme allows to overcome this reluctance, offering the customer a wide range of services that exempt him from most of the risks and responsibilities associated with the implementation of the energy efficiency project. Nevertheless, a series of financial barriers hinder the application of EPCs, effectively limiting the use of a sophisticated contractual instrument, which could contribute to the development of the energy efficiency services market. This report examines the opportunity to encourage greater use of EPCs in Italy, using refinancing instruments.