SPEE Picardie
The Regional Council of Picardie has decided the creation of a Public Energy Efficiency Service (Service Public de l’Efficacité Energétique or SPEE), which is an integrated service for the energy renovation of residential buildings, which offers advice, accompaniment, and financing of thermal retrofit projects of private homeowners.
This creation must be seen in the light of objectives of the Picardie Region within the boundaries of the Regional Climate Air Energy Scheme 2020 and 2050:
- Massive thermal retrofit of residential homes
- Experiment financing schemes that lift the barrier of advanced payment (i.e. third party financing) and current commercial bank financing logic (i.e. banks are not used to do EE investment, high interest received due to perceived risk, collateral requests…).
- Substantial level of job creation
- Organise the chain of professional contractors to ensure a minimum level of energy performance
- Develop an integrated approach based on the qualification of local contractors
- Lift the barriers of the development of energy renovation projects
- Mobilise the local offerings of advice and works
- Propose a thermal audit and advice to households
- Propose a financing solution
- Accompany homeowners during and after the works
Several initiatives were taken to stimulate both the demand and the offer for thermal retrofit:
- Creation of an Energy Information Space network with 15 advisors
- Management of contractors by local actors (e.g. Globe 21, MEF of Vermandois,…)
- Regional experiment with zero interest rate loans for energy efficiency and renewable energy investments for residential homeowners (10.000 cases in 4 years)
Other initiatives were taken to stimulate the thermal retrofit market:
- Deployment of the Energy Information Space network towards a more upstream accompaniment of residential homeowners during and after the works: retrofit technicians
- Organisation of thermal retrofit contractors by stimulating grouping of companies
- Assurance of the financing of retrofit works based on long term financial savings
All of this has led to the creation of the SPEE Picardie, that aims to put in place pilot projects over a 3-year period, following 3 major steps:
- Regional deliberation on the creation of the SPEE
- Creation of the regional agency (SPEE)
- Installation of the agency in the different territories
The objective of the SPEE is to achieve thermal retrofit projects with a goal to save 50% to 75% of final energy consumptions, depending on the configurations.
The investments of the thermal retrofits have to generate financial energy savings equal to the reimbursement of the loan over the duration of the investments, without additional subsidies.