Energy Efficiency Watch 4

Project Information

EEW4

Grant agreement ID: 847153

DOI

10.3030/847153

Project closed

EC signature date 22 May 2019

Start date 1 June 2019

End date 30 November 2022

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Secure, clean and efficient energy

Total cost

€ 1 987 204,99

EU contribution

€ 1 987 204,99

Coordinated by

FORUM EUROPEEN DES ENERGIES RENOUVELABLES - EUROPEAN FORUM FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
Belgium

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - EEW4 (Energy Efficiency Watch 4)

Reporting period: 2020-12-01 to 2022-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The Energy Efficiency Watch 4 (EEW4) is a HORIZON 2020 project, carried out by 6 partners, among them: EUFORES, GUIDEHOUSE, ESV, BORG & CO AB, FEDARENE and ENERGY CITIES who worked on this project from 1 June 2019 until 30 November 2022.

As the name of the project implies, the EEW4 addresses the important issue of significantly increasing the effective implementation of EU directives on energy efficiency, namely the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) and Revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), which have been revised under the EU Green Deal, as presented in December 2019. The relevance of the EEW4 project is given by the fact that its results feed into the decision-making procedure at the European level.

The overarching objective of EEW4 is to support policy makers in EU Member States in improving the degree of a successful implementation of policy instruments for energy efficiency, and thus contribute to reaching the target of the Energy Efficiency Directive.

To reach the above objective, the EEW4 project developed narratives for national, regional and local levels, which combine the aim of decarbonisation of EU’s economy with benefits of energy efficiency. These narratives increase broad acceptance of energy efficiency in society, including other reasons than climate protection: such as air quality, modernisation, job creation, innovation, competitiveness or energy security. Overall, the project outcomes intend to improve the level of communication on energy efficiency.

A key finding of EEW4 was that perceived energy efficiency progress remains too slow across the EU27 and new dynamics are lacking. Policy ambition seems more strongly maintained, despite political changes, in the countries or regions where a consensus has been reached on "WHY" it should be done. This emphasises how effective and strong narratives are needed to drive the energy transition and achieve Europe's climate neutrality goal. Overall policy makers should think and act beyond fragmented traditional policy areas, strategic planning of policy implementation is required from the very start, considering supportive narratives to flank all new and ongoing policies. We need to strengthen the link between economic elements and energy efficiency in the public debate and require better data and the evolvement of new business models and the creation of favourable market conditions. The energy crisis related to the Ukraine war shows that energy efficiency has a high potential for energy security.

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

The EEW4 project started on 1st of June 2019, and the work packages (WP) 1-5 have been activated according to the planning in the Annex 1 of the Grant Agreement. EEW4 delivered all important parts of the planned activities during the reporting period, managing and coordinating the project, project partners and project activities (WP1). Activating the networks of the beneficiaries for organising events (WP2) during the project’s input and testing phases (WP3 & WP4), reaching the EEW4 target audiences at local, regional, and European levels, carrying out the EEW4 survey, launching the EEW4 website. Communicating and disseminating the activities, events and project results, among them the following results: Feedback loop Report, the Final Publishable Report, the final Ppt Presentation and the Narratives Brochure. The dissemination took place via the website, digital newsletters, press releases, social media platforms and during our events (WP5).

Key elements of EU EE legislation were disseminated to MPs, MEPs and decision-makers and feedback on EE policies collected through parliamentary workshops and an Inter-Parliamentary Meeting in 10 EU MS as well as 3 Pan-European Parliamentary Webinar. Over 200 MPs and MEPs, over 400 experts from governments, European Commission and the energy community were reached through Parliamentary events. Feedback and narrative elements by the business community in 10 EU MS was collected through business stakeholder workshops, reaching 135 business experts. The expert feedback on implementation of EE policies was collected in all 27 EU MS through the survey, with over 1,200 stakeholders reached. The EEW-Conferences, attended by 1,110 participants, also allowed for gathering valuable insights for narrative development. More than 2,766 energy experts were reached by the EEW4 network partners at regional and local level.

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)

The energy crisis related to the Ukraine war has been in the minds of the general public giving more attention to energy efficiency and therefore adding relevance to the EEW4 project results. The project results have been adapted and the link between energy security in Europe and energy efficiency has been made stronger. The energy crisis related to the Ukraine war shows that energy efficiency has a high potential for energy security.

Starting EEW4, we expected the contribution of energy efficiency to energy security to play a role in our discussions with stakeholders. To our surprise, the argument did not make it to the top five topics of the survey. This does not mean that EEW4 results are outdated, but on the contrary allows for insightful additional conclusions: energy security has not been taken serious in the past, caused by a structural predominance of the supply side in the perception of what constitutes energy security, and a deep-rooted belief in economically rational behaviour as guiding principle for international energy relations. The EU must live up to its “energy efficiency first” principle and must aspire to more ambitious policies and narratives.

The project results show that more attention needs to be paid to the positive economic impacts of energy efficiency on jobs, industry and competitiveness to gain the buy-in and participation of influential stakeholder groups. A key finding of the study is that we need to strengthen the link between economic elements and energy efficiency in the public debate and require better data showing these benefits beyond climate protection and cost savings. EEW4 collected feedback and narrative elements voiced by the business community in 10 Member States through business stakeholder workshops. Narratives facilitate transition roadmaps and aim at supporting effective implementation of energy efficiency policies in the respective contexts and thus are important preconditions for full implementation.

Improved narratives developed under EEW4 will have an impact on the capability of relevant policy stakeholders to not only set up policy instruments following the rules of the directives, but also to ensure a better degree of ownership among the target groups of the policies in the respective countries. Understanding how to combine policies with supportive narratives will lead to a higher degree of personal intrinsic motivation of decision makers and stakeholders.

EEW4 Case Studies for EE visual

EEW4 survey results visual

Logo of the EEW4 project