Energy Performance Contracts are at the forefront of sustainable development, says Regional Director
The Regional Director for Energy stated in Ponta Delgada that Energy Performance Contracts (CDE) are an innovative approach to a business model that helps overcoming the initial barriers associated with energy efficiency investments.
Andreia Carreiro spoke at the opening session of the 5th Meeting with Energy Efficiency. She pointed out that CDE is a "new business model approach" that allows risk and responsibility sharing between the project promoter and the energy service company regarding the compliance with energy efficiency goals. According to her, the "investments in equipment, facilities and operating services are paid based on the energy savings achieved."
"The advantages of these contracts are clear, because they allow the reduction or optimisation of energy consumption, the reduction of the energy bill and the ecological footprint, and the mitigation of operational and financial risks," stressed the government official.
For the Regional Director, this is a recurring practice at European level. This is evidenced by "345 new public-private partnerships in the area of energy performance have been developed in 16 Member States of the European Union over the past five years, placing Energy Performance Contracts at the forefront of Europe's sustained development."
In this field, the Azores are still "an unexplored market," Andreia Carreiro said, adding that the meeting intends to "alert, inform and support the various sectors of activity for this energy efficiency measure. The aim is to converge, as a Region, on the pursuance of policies towards the decarbonisation of the Azores, while accomplishing environmental and energy goals set at European level.
In her speech, the Regional Director stated that the Regional Government's commitment has been "fruitful." As she mentioned, "despite the growth of various economic activities in the Azores, namely related to tourism, the growth of electricity consumption registered in 2017 was only 0.3% regarding the previous year. These encouraging results are in line with the Regional Government's goals for energy policy."