Project description
Renovating districts using an alternative financing mechanism
Energy performance contracting (EPC) is a market-based instrument used to implement energy efficiency in buildings. The EU-funded DistrictEES project aims to enable the EPC-based renovation of three districts, partly financed by private investors. The project will build on the most successful EPC-based home renovation model in the Netherlands. The model will be applied at district level to four different end user groups, namely private owners, housing associations, public buildings and commercial buildings. As a result of the direct energy savings achieved and the showcase element accompanying a district-level EPC renovation initiative, the project will have a major impact on the market.
Objective
The DistrictEES project aims to realise the EPC-based renovation of three entire districts, financed partly by private investors, covering all major target groups: private owners, housing associations, public buildings and commercial buildings.
DistrictEES builds on the most successful EPC model of The Netherlands for home renovation, the WoningAbonnement (WOAB); loosely translated as Energy Efficiency Subscriptions. In this project, WDW (the ESCO) will apply this model at district level to four different end user groups, launching €47M of energy efficiency investments in three districts in the Gelderland province. This district level approach has major advantages, such as:
• Reaching a sufficient project aggregation level to attract private investors and to provide over-demanded contractors with large scale efficient projects
• Reaching higher conversion rates among participants (peer pressure, FOMO)
• Ability to offer cheaper and more efficient district-level technical solutions
• Efficiency gains, both in time and money, due to economies of scale
By combining clever financial engineering solutions such as project aggregation, a revolving fund and on-bill financing, DistrictEES will have significant impact on the market, both in terms of direct energy savings and as a result of the showcase element that comes with a district level EPC renovation project that is cofunded by private investors.
This project enables WDW to overcome financial, legal and organisational barriers for the DistrictEES concept, enabling accelerated roll-out of the Energy Efficiency Subscriptions model. By implementing the concept at district level on a €47M scale, WDW can fully capitalise on the potential of the district level approach and at the same time attract private investors. The latter being an important prerequisite for the upscaling and replication of the concept, both in The Netherlands and across the EU, which is the ultimate objective of this project.
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Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
CSA - Coordination and support actionCoordinator
3741 LS Baarn
Netherlands