Transferring global experience of “efficiency first” to the EU: New Enefirst report

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Margaux Barrett

1563 Last modified by the author on 10/12/2020 - 11:00
Transferring global experience of “efficiency first” to the EU: New Enefirst report

“Efficiency First” (E1st) is a fundamental principle applied to policymaking, planning and investment in the energy sector, gaining visibility in European energy and climate policy. The H2020 project enefirst will help making the E1st principle more concrete and operational, better understand its relevance for energy demand and supply and its broader impacts across sectors and markets, focusing on the buildings sector.

The enefirst partners compiled and characterized a set of 16 case studies about international experiences with implementing the E1st principle. The objective of this report is to systematically assess to what extent the previously international experiences identified are transferable to the political and legal system of the European Union and its Member States.

A targeted literature review provided the basis for the framework to analyse the examples. It suggests that eight of the 16 experiences feature a high level of transferability, seven are found to feature a medium transferability and one is assessed with a low level of transferabiliity. 

The report concludes that policymakers in the EU and its Member States can certainly learn from their counterparts to establish a level playing field between demand and supply side resources and thus help embed the E1st principle. However, embedding the E1st principle in the EU and truly putting demand side resources on equal footing with supply side infrastructures in all relevant instances will require a custom set of policy and regulatory instruments that go beyond fragmented international practices.

 

Read the report here

Get a glimpse into the enefirst results so far

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