The EU Member States have submitted their fourth annual reports due by 30 April 2016 in accordance with Article 24(1) of the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED). These reports include information concerning energy savings achieved in 2014 through the national energy efficiency obligation schemes referred to in Article 7(1) or the alternative measures adopted in application of Article 7(9) in accordance with EED Annex XIV Part 1 point (e).

It is therefore possible for the first time to discuss and analyse how and whether the measures implemented by Member States have actually allowed achieving the annual energy savings requirement under Article 7 of the EED.

On 7th June, five companies received the 2016 EU Code of Conduct Award for Energy Efficiency in Data Centres during the Datacloud Conference in Monaco.

List of the Winners of the European Code of Conduct for Data Centre:

Winning Participants:

• b<>com, Institute of Research and Technology, with a data centre in Rennes, France
• Six Degrees Group, with a data centre in Birmingham, United Kingdom
• FCO Services, with a data in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
• EBRC ,with data centres Resilience Centre Luxembourg South (Kayl), Luxembourg

Winning Corporate Participant:

• ATMAN, corporate winners with 4 data centres in Poland

Stakeholder meeting of the ICT Code of Conduct on  Energy Consumption of Broadband Communication Equipment and Networks.

Stakeholder meeting of the ICT Code of Conduct on  Energy Consumption of Broadband Communication Equipment and Networks.

Stakeholder meeting of the ICT Code of Conduct on  Energy Consumption of Broadband Communication Equipment and Networks.

Meeting

Energy services and the use of energy service companies (ESCOs) can play a critical role in promoting energy efficiency at the market level. Operational since the early 1990s, ESCOs can handle projects, manage or mobilize financial resources, undertake installation and maintenance work as well as assume the performance risk of their projects. Their potential to unlock the energy saving potential in the market is recognized by various EU directives and initiatives in the European context. Despite their well-established track record of delivering substantial energy savings, the energy service market in the European Union is, however, far from utilizing its full potential, even in countries with a particularly developed energy services market.

The Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, on behalf of DG ENER, organised a workshop in Brussels on the 22 October 2015 with the aim to discuss the current status of the Energy Services market in the EU. Good practices in the public sector were presented and the status of energy services in the private sector was discussed. Ideas on the use of model contracts, innovative financing, M&V plans, certification and accounting issues were also exchanged among the participants. The workshop was attended by national representatives responsible for the implementation of the Energy Efficiency Directive, practitioners, associations and policy experts in the field.

Opening Session

The purpose of the workshop is to provide a forum for policy makers and stakeholders to review and discuss outcomes and results of existing energy saving obligations and white certificate schemes in Europe and beyond. The main objective of the workshop is provide for critical assessment of core design issues drawing upon experiences gained in the actual design, implementation and evaluation of existing European schemes, such as sectoral coverage of the schemes, category of obliged parties (suppliers or distributors), importance of trading and market set-up, cost-recovery mechanisms, and penalties for non-compliance. Furthermore, key issues such as cost effectiveness of energy savings delivered by these schemes, including the cost of implementation, should also be explored so as to contrast and compare white certificate schemes with alternative policy instruments designed to deliver the same outcomes.

A Workshop on Common Methods and Principles for Calculating the Impact of Energy Efficiency Obligation Schemes and Other Policy Measures under Article 7 of the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) has been organised on behalf of DG ENER by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. The event has taken place on 10 June 2015 and has aimed, among other things, to:

• Discuss energy savings calculation methodologies and identify the pluses and the minuses of the different options chosen by EU Member States;
• Ensure that more transparency is achieved concerning the way in which energy savings are claimed from measures notified under Article 7;   
• Allow that more robust monitoring, verification, control and compliance regimes for the EED Article 7 are put in place by Member States;
• Increase the harmonisation on the way in which information concerning energy savings calculation methodologies is reported in Member States notifications.
• Highlight in which cases pre-existing calculation methodologies have to be modified or adapted in order to comply with Article 7 requirements;