Recommendation and guidelines on Energy Efficiency First: from principles to practice

While energy efficiency first is not new as a concept, there has been a need to make the principle more operational and to support its practical implementation, and this across different sectors, ranging from the energy supply and distribution to the end-use sectors.

The European Commission is organising an event to present the energy efficiency first recommendation and guideline to a wide range of stakeholders, public authorities, industry and financial institutions soon after their adoption (planned for September 2021). It will be opened by the Commissioner for Energy,  Kadri Simson. The speakers that follow, representing various stakeholders from the energy system, the main energy end-use sectors and from the finance community, will illustrate what energy efficiency first means, specifically for their sector, and how its application could look like. At the event, the Energy Efficiency Financial Institutions Group (EEFIG) will also launch its working group on energy efficiency first. The aim of this working group is to further explore and to facilitate the application of the principle in the finance sector.

The event will be conducted in English.

Presentations

For social media: #EnergyEfficiencyFirst

Background

Energy efficiency first has been a guiding principle in European climate and energy policies for many years. It considers energy efficiency as a source of energy in its own right and as a “first fuel” in planning processes and investment decisions. It has been an essential element of the energy union and the Clean energy for all Europeans package. It is defined in the Governance Regulation, which inter alia requires EU countries to consider it in their National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs). In the European Green Deal package, adopted in July 2021, the Commission proposed to incorporate the principle as a legal provision in the Energy Efficiency Directive.