Enhancing at an Early Stage the Investment Value Chain of Energy Efficiency Projects

Project Information

Triple-A

Grant agreement ID: 846569

DOI

10.3030/846569

Project closed

EC signature date 13 May 2019

Start date 1 September 2019

End date 31 May 2022

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Secure, clean and efficient energy

Total cost

€ 1 486 196,25

EU contribution

€ 1 486 196,25

Coordinated by

ETHNICON METSOVION POLYTECHNION
Greece

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - Triple-A (Enhancing at an Early Stage the Investment Value Chain of Energy Efficiency Projects)

Reporting period: 2020-10-01 to 2022-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Energy efficiency (EE) is recognised as the primary mean of reducing energy consumption, maintaining economic and cultural activities intact. Although, a high share of investments is needed to increase EE levels in the EU, the public funding standalone cannot reach the expected EE goals. Private capital and standardisation processes are needed to be oriented to the EE market, to boost the rate at which EE upgrades are realised.
The aim of Triple-A was to assist financial institutions and project developers increase their deployment of capital in EE, making investments more transparent and attractive. Triple-A project has contributed to the upscaling of EE investments in various aspects. The so-called “Standardised Triple-A Tools” developed, consist of a powerful instrument for investors and project developers, as they incorporate a methodology to point out bankable EE investments, deploying standardised methods and key performance indicators (KPIs) that are broadly accepted by the financial sector. Triple-A has focused on the market needs and the elimination of barriers that hamper the implementation of EE investments since their conceptualisation phase. For that reason, consultation procedures that include interactive engagement with EE stakeholders have been realised within projects’ activities, collecting valuable feedback on the market situation. This feedback has been the cornerstone of the development of the Triple-A methodology and the Tools.
As a matter of fact, 170 EE projects inserted in the Standardised Triple-A Tools for benchmarking, 51 of them were classified as “Triple-A” meaning that they have excellent performance in most of the KPIs, while 38 completed Triple-A conform project fiches from 8 countries have been received, namely Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Spain, the Netherlands. The total investment value of the proposed projects just over 70 million EUR.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Throughout the project duration, the work was oriented in several axes from stakeholder consultation and dissemination of the results to the materialisation of the project methodology through the Triple-A Tools and Database.
The 3 Triple-A Tools (https://toolbox.aaa-h2020.eu/) offer:
• Assess: Identification of attractive project ideas for bankers, and other financing institutions. Project ideas are checked for EU Taxonomy compliance and are evaluated according to their perceived risks. Result: Collection and assessment of 170 project ideas
• Agree: Benchmarking of the EE projects and selection of the “Triple-A” ones that merit attention by the investors. It benchmarks the predicted performance of the EE project ideas taking advantage of the various financial, risk and SDG KPIs. Result: 51 Triple-A investments identified.
• Assign: Proposals of funding strategies (Green Bonds, Green Loans, Green Mortgages and Energy Efficiency Auctions) that better match the examined investments and respective beneficiaries. Result: 38 completed Triple-A project fiches ready to get financed.
The Triple-A Web-Based Database on EE Financing (https://database.aaa-h2020.eu/) communicates Triple-A results to relevant stakeholders providing advanced functionalities like interactive maps, graphs and cross-country analysis regarding the main components in EE financing, such as risks and mitigation strategies, financial performance of implemented projects, financing models and instruments, progress in terms of SDG. It has 4,420 pageviews, 1,239 users and 211 downloads of the country reports.
Regarding the stakeholder dialogue and capacity building, a plan was delivered with 557 stakeholders identified (project developers, financiers, investors, policymakers, academia) across the 8 case study countries. 123 bilateral meetings have been realised, with 161 participants (60% investors and project developers), 9 Capacity Building Webinars with 224 participants and 8 Regional Training Workshops with 353 participants (137 from financial community) have been organized. Furthermore, in order to receive valuable feedback from stakeholders, 5 Triple-A questionnaires have been disseminated, gathering 228 responses. Triple-A Advisory Board consisted of 8 key experts, which provided feedback through 41 bilateral meetings.
Results from the communication of the outputs are: Triple-A Identity guidelines, 12 Logos, 13 brochures, 6 posters in events and conferences, 47 Banners for social media and events, 13 factsheets on Triple-A objectives and case study outcomes, 23 videos, 29 Triple-A newsletters/ press releases, 36 references in partners' and external newsletters, 101 references in websites.
Results from the dissemination of the outputs are: Project website - 62,398 pageviews & 25,555 users, Social media - more than 900 followers, Organisation of 27 workshops/ webinars/ trainings, 25 scientific publications, 29 popularised articles in websites & blogs, 53 synergies with EU projects & 87 joint activities with them, participation in 93 external events.
Project sustainability and exploitation results: 1 synthesis paper per case study, 1 European synthesis paper with guidelines regarding market architecture and policy framework, 9 policy recommendation sets, 14 Briefing Notes.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Triple-A has been and will continue facilitating access to capital markets for EE investments by addressing the lack of standardisation of assets. Triple-A Tools provide a standard rating to project ideas, which can be used to aggregate similar projects and create financial products that could be traded in secondary markets. Triple-A recommendations on supporting policy and legislative development and market architecture have been provided through synthesis papers for the case study countries and Europe as a whole.
Triple-A has accommodated state-of-the-art financing methods into its tools in order to be a step ahead of the market’s progress. Examples are the incorporation of the energy efficiency auctions financing scheme, which at the moment evolves within European countries, and the project aggregation in order to be funded by accumulating financing methods, such as the Green Bonds. In addition, the Tools incorporate the EU Taxonomy technical screening criteria for several sectors, since sustainable financing will become the main investing trend.
Triple-A Database is expected to be used as a hub for project developers and investors that could facilitate the easy access to data related to risks, mitigation strategies and financing models, when implementing EE projects. The sustainability plan that foresees the expansion of the data coverage of the database to additional MSs is expected to raise the visibility and practicality of the database. Not to mention that the Database is directly connected with the Triple-A Tools, as they form vital parts of the Triple-A ecosystem, meaning that the enhancements of the former directly affect the latter providing a state-of-the-art solution to the fostering of EE projects.
It is foreseen that the visitors of the Triple-A Tools in the long term will be quadrupled, along with the projects inserted and the energy savings triggered. In that respect, the impact of the project will not be limited to the project’s end.
The primary energy savings triggered by the project up until May 2022 are 818.80 GWh/year, while the budget of the investments in sustainable energy triggered by the Triple-A amount to 209 million EUR.

Triple-A Brochures

Triple-A Social Media Accounts

Triple-A Capacity Building Webinars

Triple-A Project Meetings

Triple-A Standardised Tools

Triple-A Videos

Triple-A Publications

Participation in external events

Triple-A Synergies

Final European Roadshow 10 May 2022

Triple-A Newsletters and Press Releases

Triple-A Database

Triple-A Factsheets

Triple-A Infographics

Triple-A Regional Training Workshops