Towards an effective implementation of key legislation in the field of sustainable energy

Topic description

Objective:

The EU Clean Energy Package resulted in a comprehensive framework of energy legislation which placed the consumer at the centre of the energy system and which paved the way for a more sustainable way of energy production, distribution and consumption. It included, inter alia, a review of the Energy Efficiency Directive, the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and the Renewable Energy Directive and, with the Regulation on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action, put in place a new system of integrated reporting.

With the European Green Deal, the Commission raised the level of ambition further, and a whole set of measures have been proposed, including the revision of energy and climate legislation by June and December 2021 respectively as well as the flagship initiative to steer public and private funding towards renovation projects with the biggest societal gains, the Renovation Wave.

The EU legislative framework sets out requirements that need to be implemented by Member States and thus be adapted to the respective national context; the provisions are by nature very specific and technical, and adequate implementation requires a high level of technical capacity and resources. While the legislative framework offers a good amount of flexibility to Member States to design the policy measures according to their needs and framework conditions, accurate monitoring, projecting and evaluation are essential elements of implementation. Importantly, the legislation is strongly interrelated and needs to be implemented and reported in an integrated, consistent way.

In addition, energy and non-energy sectors are increasingly interlinked, which has been recognised in the European Green Deal and is reflected in two new initiatives, the EU Strategy for Energy System Integration and the Hydrogen Strategy. This also means that Member States authorities need to build up additional cross-sectoral expertise.

With these challenges in mind, the topic aims to support the implementation of the main pieces of legislation in the field of sustainable energy, notably of the Energy Efficiency Directive (Scope A), the Renewable Energy Directive (Scope B) and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (Scope C). Moreover, it aims to contribute to the development and use of integrated approaches to effectively implement provisions across Energy Legislation (Scope D). Finally, it aims to support the implementation of the EU Strategy for Energy System Integration (Scope E)

Under the call 2021, proposals are invited for the Scopes A and B, i.e. proposals for actions to support the implementation of:

• the Energy Efficiency Directive (Scope A) and of
• the Renewable Energy Directive (Scope B)

(See also details below for Scopes A and B)

Actions under this topic are expected to:

• Promote and enable exchange of insights and sharing of best practices within and across Member States
• Provide support, technical advice and tools for contextualisation and specification of requirements, in general and according to the national and regional context
• Scope, assess and model the impact of implementation options to comply with EU legislative requirements, thereby contributing to the design of more effective policies
• Support the monitoring and evaluation of policy implementation
• Develop and apply methodologies to more accurately measure, calculate and account for contributions made under the specific policy measures and programmes
• Collect and analyse energy consumption data across sectors; monitor efficiency trends and show their implications for society, markets and technologies
• Develop and support integrated methodologies for areas and sectors that are addressed by different policies and pieces of legislation, notably approaches for integrated collection of data, calculation/accounting, verification, monitoring, evaluation and reporting
• Monitor and model energy and non-energy impacts of integrated solutions; gather data for the energy and buildings sector.

​Scope A - Support for the implementation of the Energy Efficiency Directive

Actions under Scope A are expected to address core provisions and aspects of the Energy Efficiency Directive^[1], such as:

• Energy efficiency targets, notably with regard to data collection across different sectors and more accurate monitoring and better understanding of energy consumption and efficiency trends
• Public Procurement, notably with regard to support central governments to purchase only products, services and buildings with high energy efficiency performance, and to encourage public bodies at regional and local levels to follow the example of their national government
• Energy Efficiency Obligations (EEOs), notably with a view to more accurate and specific calculation of energy savings, better tools for Measurement and Verification (M&V), the setting up and monitoring of EEOs, the planning and verification of alternative measures; moreover with regard to exploring and substantiating the interaction of Article 7 with other policies, such as the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), State Aid, renewable energy etc. and with regard to potential energy savings from cross-sectorial programmes, such as renewable energy sources and combined heat & power and the extension of Article 7 to other sectors, such as water
• Metering and billing, notably with regard to sub-metering, remote reading and heat cost allocation for thermal energy
• Energy Services, notably with regard to regulatory, non-regulatory and financial barriers and enablers, such as accounting rules within public budgets, approaches to reduce split incentives, administrative burden and transaction costs; approaches to create trust and guarantee quality and performance and to define and acknowledge the roles of Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) and facilitators
• Energy Efficiency National Fund, notably with regard to financing and technical support, for example through financing facilities, such as Energy Efficiency Funds

Scope B - Support for the implementation of the Renewable Energy Directive

Actions under Scope B are expected to address core provisions and aspects of the Renewable Energy Directive, such as:

• Renewables self-consumers, notably with regard to the implementation of rights and enabling frameworks across Member States, and in particular in relation to the provisions on self-consumption and collective self-consumption and the way they create incentives and remove barriers for RES consumer business models
• Renewable energy communities (RECs), notably with regard to the implementation of rights and enabling frameworks for RECs across Member States (including policy, regulatory and legislative measures) and their impact on the growth of RECs; this should also take into account relevant aspects linked to the Citizen Energy Communities addressed in Directive (EU) 2019/944 on common rules for the internal market for electricity; moreover, aspects related to the development of Community Energy Strategies
• Mainstreaming renewable energy in heating and cooling, including district energy networks, notably with regard to collecting data on energy consumption in the heating and cooling sector, assessing existing market barriers and simplifying existing authorisation, certification and licensing procedures; developing tools to make available information on the net benefits, cost and energy efficiency of equipment and systems for the use of heating and cooling from renewable sources and waste heat and cold; mapping and analysis of the national renewable and waste energy potential in conjunction with respective requirements under Directive 2012/27/EU; assessing and implementing measures facilitating the integration of innovative renewable energy technologies and waste heat and cold into existing and new district heating and cooling networks
• Renewable energy in the transport sector
• Other related horizontal matters such as support schemes for energy from renewable sources, streamlining authorisation procedures, information and training and Guarantees of Origin

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of up to EUR 2 million would allow the specific objectives to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

For Scopes A and B:

• Improved collaboration of implementing bodies within and across Member States
• Increased understanding and knowledge in public administrations in charge of implementing European energy legislation
• More effective implementation of provisions, including better planning, design and evaluation of policy measures
• More consistent implementation of legal provisions across energy legislation, energy policy and energy sectors
• Use of appropriate tools and methods that facilitate availability and access to data; improved quality of data and better monitoring
• Improved understanding of consumption trends
• Use of more accurate calculation and M&V methodologies, including for cross-sector use of energy
• Improved quality of reporting/ National Energy and Climate Plans/ Long-term renovation strategies
• Improved understanding of potentials
• Improved understanding of market barriers
• More effective planning, for example of smart Heating and Cooling networks
• Improved understanding and measurement of the impacts and non-energy benefits, also in view of the circular economy
• Primary energy savings/Renewable energy generation triggered by the project (in GWh/year)
• Investments in sustainable energy triggered by the project (cumulative, in million Euro)

[1]For Policy Support actions addressing Heating and Cooling, please refer to Scope B. For Policy Support actions addressing energy audits and energy management systems, please refer to call topic LIFE-2021-CET-AUDITS