OSER

Regional Energy Services Operator

Program Authority:

Region Rhones-Alpes

Program Delivery Unit :

Société Publique Locale Efficacité Energétique Opérateur de Services Energétiques Régional (SPL OSER)

Summary

“SPL OSER” (Société Publique Locale Efficacité Energétique Opérateur de Services Energétiques Régional), a Publicly owned Local Limited Company (PLLC), was created at the end of 2012 to assist local and regional authorities in the region of Rhône-Alpes in meeting the challenges of energy transition through the realisation of deep energy retrofit projects. OSER stands for “Regional Energy Services Operator” and its mayor role is to act as a Public ESCO (Energy Services Company) for its public shareholders within the Rhône-Alpes region. Its founding partners, the Region of Rhône-Alpes, 9 municipalities and the inter-municipality SIEL, created the SPL as an answer to the then very weak demand for deep energy retrofit investments and the quasi-absence of comprehensive retrofit solutions offering. They were convinced that energy efficiency requirements on new construction only would not suffice to decrease the ambitious CO2 emission reduction targets and that the public authorities had to play a leadership role in the roll-out of deep energy retrofit projects, in order to boost a dynamic of energy retrofit.

The programme’s ambition is to invest around 78M€ and reach for every retrofitted building the French Low Energy Consumption standard BBC (Batiment Basse Consommation) of 80kWh/m²/year, achieve significant cuts in energy consumption ranging from 40% to 75%, boost the regional economy and create jobs through retrofitting.

The SPL went operational at the end of 2014 with the signature of the first project with Ville de Bourg-en-Bresse related to the retrofit of the school buildings of 3 school groups. Currently it has launched 10 projects with a total investment value of 31M€ and it has 7 other projects in feasibility phase.

Documents

OSER EN [1]

OSER FR [2]

OSER BG [3]

OSER ES [4]

Overview

Ownership:

Public [5]

Implementation Model:

Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) [6]

Operating Services:

Marketing [7]

Facilitation [8]

Integration [9]

Financial Advisory [10]

Financing [11]

Assessment [12]

Type of Project:

Energy Efficiency (building retrofits) [13]

Ambition/Targets:

Up to 75% reduction of energy consumption [14]

Benificiaries:

Public Sector [15]

Funding Vehicle:

Financial Institutions [16]

ESCOs [17]

Financial Instruments:

Loans [18]

Grants [19]

EPC financing [20]

Scalability of the Model:

Low [21]

Development Maturity:

Growth [22]

Financing Model

Model Description

How does it work?

Municipalities, local and regional authorities wanting to apply for the services of SPL OSER in order to perform feasibility studies, or to execute or implement their retrofit or renovation programme need first to become shareholder of the SPL, provided that they adhere to the by-laws and to the shareholders charter. Their contribution to the equity is 1€ per inhabitant.

The beneficiaries can basically choose between two approaches to carry out their retrofit energy programme or investments:

Based on a separate contractor approach. OSER can then provide project development assistance (feasibility studies, preliminary assessment, public procurement, financial advice), and if requested, project management of the necessary energy retrofit to be carried out. It basically assists the beneficiaries in preparing and follow-up of the contracts as part of the retrofit programme.
Based on an EPC-approach (Energy Performance Contracting) including 3rd party finance provided by OSER. In this case OSER provides project development assistance, project management and financing and commits to guaranteed energy savings. OSER’s services, as public ESCO, are considered to be “in-house” thus no public tender needs to be carried out by the beneficiary.OSER applies the competitive dialogue tender to those services that it outsources, in other words services that it does not perform itself. Beneficiaries that have chosen for the EPC-approach will have to contribute around 10% of the total investment amount to the equity of OSER, thus increasing their participation in the SPL OSER.OSER is providing the financing of the other 90%.
As counterpart of the services the beneficiary pays a fixed rent amount to OSER over an agreed period in accordance with the signed Emphyteutic Lease and Service Delivery Agreement.The duration of the agreement is at least 18 years.The property reverts to the beneficiary at the end of the Emphyteutic lease period.

Funding of the investments under an EPC-approach is being secured through equity of OSER (about 10%) and 90% of the funding is being secured with regional, national and European financial institutions:

41M € long term loans on savings funds “Livret A” from Caisse des Dépôts, i.e., soft loans for projects in priority areas for urban policy (urban renovation loans and urban project loans) as well as "Green Growth Loans" with a term of +/ 20 years
5M € short term funding from EEEF, the European Energy Efficiency Fund (senior construction facility for energy efficiency schools retrofit)
Possible Bpifrance funding (Bpifrance is a subsidiary of Caisse des Dépôts)
Possible European Investment Bank (EIB) funding via Caisse d’Epargne Rhône-Alpes.

Organization and Partnerships

Region of Rhône-Alpes: main political initiator and majority shareholder of SPL OSER (88%),

SPL OSER: provides staff, procedures, tools and services for the program. Offers the program delivery unit services: marketer, project facilitation, projects integration, financial advice and 3rd party financier.

Local partner banks: Caisse des Dépôts, Bpifrance

European Energy Efficiency Fund (EEEF): Is an innovative public-private partnership dedicated to mitigating climate change through energy efficiency measures and the use of renewable energy in the member states of the European Union. It focuses on financing energy efficiency, small-scale renewable energy, and clean urban transport projects (at market rates) targeting municipal, local and regional authorities and public and private entities acting on behalf of those authorities.

European Investment Bank (EIB) through Caisse d’Epargne Rhône-Alpes: The EIB is the European Union's bank, owned by and representing the interests of the European Union Member States. It works closely with other EU institutions to implement EU policy. EIB provides finance and expertise for sound and sustainable investment projects which contribute to furthering EU policy objectives.

Beneficiaries

Beneficiaries:

Local and regional authorities

Operational Support:

Project facilitation and 3rd party financing through the Project Delivery Unit

Financial Support:

Project facilitation costs free of charge under EPC-approach

Program Delivery Unit

SPL OSER is the program delivery vehicle of the energy retrofit investments of its local public shareholders in the Region of Rhône-Alpes. It acts as marketer, facilitator, integrator, financial advisor and financier for the beneficiaries, though the service delivery perimeter is by law limited to its (public) shareholders within the territory of Rhône-Alpes.

It actually operates partly as a provider of services and expertise, and also as a third party investor in energy efficiency projects for local and regional public buildings, thus having all characteristics of a public ESCO.

It has basically three objectives:

Carry out energy retrofit or renovation of public buildings while providing a comprehensive offer, such as EPC, to the beneficiaries. This includes design, implementation, operation and procuring third party financing for the projects.
Provide legal and technical engineering assistance, but also financial advice to develop or acquire financing by third-party investors.
Mutualise the acquired competencies, skills and resources and capitalise on experiences.

Projects need to be presented to OSER’s "Investment Committee" (15 members) and are formally approved by the board of Director (which takes decisions).

Program Delivery Unit Box

Legal Structure:

SPL-Société Publique Locale (Publicly owned Local Limited Company)

Equity:

7 405 660.00€

Shareholders:

Region Rhône-Alpes (88%) 11 participating municipalities (11,3%) SIEL-intermunicipality (0,7%)

Staff Requirements:

Less than 10 full time employee [23]

Operational Costs:

Less than 10 million EUR [24]

Impact on Public Balance Sheet:

High [25]

Financial Details

Funding Mechanism

Delivery Unit Funding:

SPL OSER is being funded by the shareholders (public authorities). The program delivery unit’s operational costs are basically funded by a 1,1M€ grant from EEEF

Projects Funding:

EPC Projects are being funded by equity of the SPL (10%) and the remaining 90% through loans taken by the ESCO. Separate based contracting projects are funded by the Property Owners.

Results

Currently 10 projects are being implemented for 4 Shareholder-Beneficiaries with a global investment amount of 31M €. Investment amounts range from 0,9M€ to over 6,0M€ and energy savings range from 40% to 70%. Furthermore, SPL OSER has 7 projects in feasibility or preliminary assessment phase.

Since the foundation of SPL OSER by the 11 initial public authorities 2 local authorities have joined as shareholders and 2 other local authorities are in the process of joining.

Contacts

SPL OSER

17 rue de la Frise – 38000 Grenoble

Telephone:

04 76 22 55 34

E-Mail:

adresse@example.fr [26]

Website:

http://www.spl-oser.fr [27]

Sources

http://spl-oser.fr/ [28]
Labie Christian, SPL d’Efficacité énergétique : OSER, Rencontre franco-allemande « Transition énergétique » vs « Energievende » Stuttgart, 19-20 March 2013
Pouyet Regis, OSER. The existing Public Local Company for public buildings renovation (Public ESCO), 08 October 2014
€41mn loan on savings funds for SPL Oser, published by Caisse des Depots, http://www.caissedesdepots.fr/en/news/allthenews/enregionhorsmenu/aeur41... [29], 16 October 2014
« OSER » l'investissement public de rénovation énergétique, two articles published on Décideurs en Région, website www.decideursenregion.fr [30], 31 March 2015 and 08 April 2015
Constitution de la Société publique locale efficacité énergétique. délibération du conseil régional Rhône-Alpes, 5 October 2012
DCESE/Service Energie published by Direction Climat Environnement Santé et Energie (DCESE)
emphytéotique administratif avec la SPL OSER, Délibération du Conseil Municipal, 17 November 2014
Local Public Company – SPL “OSER” Rhône-Alpes Region, France, INFINITE Solutions, spring 2014
Présentation de la SPL Efficacité énergétique. Synthèse des études préalables et des groupes de travail
Région Rhône-Alpes, 2012
Rénovation énergétique de bâtiments communaux - Groupe scolaire BAUDIN – Bail emphytéotique administratif avec la SPL OSER, Délibération du conseil municipal Bourg-en-Bresse, 17 November 2014
SPL Efficacité Energétique OSER pour la rénovation thermique, brochure published by SAGE Service Energie et Développement Durable France, 2013
SPL OSER : Modification du pacte d’actionnaires, Délibération du conseil régional Rhône-Alpes, 29 June 2015
Technical Assistance – Project description Rhône-Alpes, France, European Energy Efficiency Fund, not dated