The European Commission has granted an extension for the ESI Europe project for another year, postponing the end to January 2022.

The project was launched in February 2018 by the consortium led by BASE with FIRE, BCSD Portugal and EnergyLab aiming at increasing investment in energy efficiency (EE) by Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs). The objectives are the implemention of the Energy Savings Insurance (ESI) model in Italy, Portugal and Spain; the creation of an initial pipeline of EE projects and the development of the ESI Toolkit for dissemination to other potential European countries.

GoSafe with ESI: the ESI elements developed

GoSafe with ESI makes the ESI model elements available to market players in Italy, Portugal and Spain. It is composed by a set of elements that reduce the risk associated with investments in energy efficiency. Some of the activities for the implementation of the ESI model in the three countries include:

• The development of the standardised contract with energy efficiency guarantee clause, which is available in local language in the three countries.
• The selection of an independent technical validation entity, SGS that has developed with the support of the ESI Europe team the validation methodologies for the different technologies.
• The engagement of local insurance companies in each country, who are ready to offer the insurance product that covers the guaranteed energy savings.
• The link to facilitated access to green credit lines with favourable conditions that have a special focus on energy efficiency, decarbonisation or SMEs and are offered by local engaged banks.

Progress in times of COVID-19

In the past year, the team has been working intensively on the promotion of the ESI model in Italy, Portugal and Spain since the launch of the commercial brand “GoSafe with ESI” in January 2020. With the challenges faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, cancellation of events and restrictions to travel and meetings, the ESI Europe team have adapted and moved activities online, by hosting webinars, and actively communicating on social media with dedicated profiles for each country.

“We believe that the challenges imposed on us come with an opportunity to learn and change the course of our actions” says Livia Miethke Morais, Sustainable Energy Financing Specialist at BASE. Energy efficiency and the renewable energies are effective in contributing to the low-carbon economy and build back better, and greener economies. “By reducing operational costs of energy, SMEs in all sectors can increase resilience and business performance in these critical times.“, complements Livia.

The ESI Europe team is looking actively on how the stimulus packages and the European Green Deal can be supported by GoSafe with ESI. In each country the ESI Europe team has been in conversations with several stakeholders to have the best conditions for SMEs to opt for a low-carbon path for their recovery and future development.

The ESI Europe project also featured in several publications including the European Energy Innovation magazine Spring 2020 edition, the Open Access Government magazine Summer edition, the CORDIS website, and the Swiss Sustainable Finance (SSF) publication on Financing the Low-carbon Economy.

What to expect in 2021

There are many activities planned for this year of 2021, including promotion and piloting GoSafe with ESI in Italy, Portugal and Spain and sharing the success cases. The project will also launch of the online platform and the ESI Europe Toolkit with the standardised tools, and the steps and process for implementation of GoSafe with ESI.

The ESI Europe team is planning several opportunities to share the learnings and successes of the ESI Europe project, stay tuned.