First MED DESIRE outcomes from WP4
The collaboration between the two Shores of the Mediterranean Sea established within WP4, coordinated by ENEA, Italy, aimed at the harmonization of the legislative and regulatory framework on energy efficiency (EE) and renewable energy sources (RES), for contributing to the creation of a common energy market.
The three deliverables elaborated by project partners provide inputs for policy makers and stakeholders to accomplish sustainable energy systems at Mediterranean Regional level.
In particular, the basic elements to elaborate a joint proposal have been highlighted in the following studies, taking into account that developing a sustainable energy system requires enacting wide-ranging public policies: an accurate coordination with industrial and research policies is needed, having awareness of the existing tight connections between energy and environmental policies and economic competitiveness. National energy plans and programmes should help unlock private investment flow, also putting in place innovative financing mechanisms.
Policy analysis
Distributed Renewable Energy Generation and Energy Efficiency in Mediterranean Countries: opportunities and barriers
Demographic and economic trends of the South Mediterranean Countries are more dynamic compared to the North Shore of the Mediterranean Sea, dragging along energy consumption projections. Access to energy is one of the main issues and energy subsidies have a strong influence on energy markets.
Distributed renewable energy is attracting more and more attention as a solution to energy access (in particular in remote areas) while energy efficiency is perceived as a viable solution to sustainably meet the high increase of energy demand, which is putting pressure on national energy systems (in particular for what the electricity generation, transmission and distribution sector are concerned).
The relevant outcome expected from this study is to strengthen capacity of the Partner Countries’ public administrations and institutions in setting up an adequate legal, regulatory and organizational framework to allow the development, deployment and diffusion of distributed solar energy technologies and the enhancement of energy efficiency:
- in the first part of the paper, a concise energy profile of each Partner Country, as well as energy policies and incentive mechanisms currently in force are presented, compared and analyzed. A set of country case studies is also included, for their relevance and suitability.
- the second part of the document is focused on the identification of barriers and on the proposal of solutions for overcoming obstacles, so providing a common background for the co-operative activities to be carried out in MED DESIRE Project.
- a set of country case studies is also included, for their relevance and suitability.
Policy analysis
Guidelines to improve Public-Private Partnerships in innovative solar energy and energy efficiency
The main objective of this document is to provide information about the most appropriate tools needed for the development of the energy efficiency and renewable energy market at a local scale and for investments of low-medium financial dimension.
In general, the “Public-Private Partnership” (PPP) refers to a public service or a public infrastructure implemented through an active participation of private partners (investors) during the whole life cycle of the infrastructure itself. Consequently, this tool can be considered as one of the most effective options to overcome the barriers linked with the lack of funds for a public sector facing budget constraints and the financial sustainability of investments.
Typically, it is possible to distinguish the projects implemented through PPP on the bases of their capacity to generate commercial revenues at a level sufficient to repay the investment. For investments of not too high financial dimension (roughly below € 3-5 million), the most appropriate form of public-private partnership is the so-called “Third-Party Financing” (TPF). This is a contractual arrangement involving a third party (e.g. the Energy Service Company- ESCo) that provides the capital for the upfront investment of a measure and charges the beneficiary a fee equivalent to a part of the energy savings achieved as a result of the measure.
- the conclusions of the document will serve as basis for developing guidelines to improve Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) and Third-Party Financing (TPF) to promote innovative solar energy and energy efficiency measures at local level;
- a set of country case studies is also included, for their relevance and suitability.
Potential analysis
RES and EE sustainable trends and scenarios: key elements to stimulate market development and effective investment strategies in Mediterranean Countries
The main objective of this study is to provide key elements – sustainable trends and scenarios - to give a boost to the renewable energy sources (RES) and energy efficiency (EE) market development as well as to define effective investment strategies in the Mediterranean area.
The outputs from the analysis on the competitive position of the five target countries by technology give a first indication on which renewable technology a country should concentrate priority attention and resources to progress on the integration of renewables in its energy systems and push for further country specific ad-hoc industrial investigations.
As general conclusions from the analysis carried out either at national and end-use sectors scale, it is worth pointing out that:
- under all scenarios and for all MPCs project partners it results possible to realize the number of PV plants needed to achieve a 5% target of renewable energy. This option ensures the availability of energy in such a form as to be distributed among populations, suburban regions and urban areas not grid connected;
- the certification and the quality control of the products and services provided to the users are not always reliable. Thus, there is a strong need to set up laboratories and methodologies for testing and certification of solar and EE components and technologies;
- tailored innovative financial schemes and market stimulation tools are needed to face the lack of dedicated finance which represents another relevant issue. Barriers include the lack of direct financial incentives for both users and investors in EE and RES;
- improving energy efficiency is a key energy policy challenge in targeted MPCs. While there is a great potential in all sectors, the residential and service sectors resulted as the ones of highest priority in MPCs and thus deserve particular attention from policy-makers;
- a set of country case studies is also included, for their relevance and suitability.