29 February, Brussels – The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) has indicated that investment of €54bn will be needed if the EU is to meet a 30% energy saving target, which is expected to be put forward by the Commission later this year. To do this, they propose an energy efficiency investment plan to reduce financial risk and encourage private funding in energy efficiency measures.
Whilst the Commission is expected to push for the 30% target, the European Council prefers a 27% target, which would cost €17bn in investment. A more ambitious 40% target could require investments of €181bn. The EU is unlikely to meet its current target 20% energy saving target for 2020.
The JRC says that to reach EU targets, loan guarantees for energy efficiency investments are needed, as well as a de-risking framework to ensure that energy savings can compete on an equal footing with power generation.
Although the ambitious 40% target would require the greatest investment, the JRC calculates that the sum of energy savings and renewables would be greater than the sum of all imported fossil fuels, making energy savings the EU’s ‘first fuel’.
Click to see the JRC’s Press Release.