Eco’Energies

Eco’Energies (CCI Nice Côte d’Azur)

Program Authority:

CCI Nice Côte d'Azur

Program Delivery Unit :

CCI Nice Côte d'Azur

Summary

Eco’Energies is an energy efficiency program developed by the Chamber of Commerce (CCI) Nice Côte d’Azur of the Alpes-Maritimes and Var departments to assist small and medium sized enterprises in the tertiary and industrial sector by facilitating the energetic renovation of their buildings and/or industrial sites.

It is targeted at enterprises in the Alpes-Maritimes and Var departments that are part of the Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur (PACA) region, in the south-east of France.

The program is focused on 6 target groups:

Hotels
Health sector (hospitals and elderly homes)
Distribution sector (retail, supermarkets, department stores,…)
Logistics sector
Industry
Office buildings

The CCI pre-identifies the savings potential and invites a number of preselected Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) to develop a proposal for an Energy Performance Contract (EPC). The first phase of the project includes 5 ESCOs, 3 with a national coverage and 2 regional ESCOs.

The program is in its initial stage of development with a number of ongoing projects.

No results on investments or realized savings are available at this stage.

The program is however interesting, as it is one of the only ones in Europe that specifically target the sector of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs).

Documents

Overview

Ownership:

Public

Implementation Model:

Energy Performance Contracting (EPC)

Operating Services:

Marketing

Facilitation

Financial Advisory

Type of Project:

Energy Efficiency (building retrofits)

Renewable Energy

Ambition/Targets:

Up to 35% reduction of energy consumption

Benificiaries:

Commercial Sector

Industrial Sector

Funding Vehicle:

Financial Institutions

ESCOs

Property Owner

Financial Instruments:

Scalability of the Model:

Low

Development Maturity:

Start-up

Financing Model

Model Description

How does it work?

The CCI follows a 3-step approach:

Identification of the energy savings potential
(Free) preliminary visit and audit by a representative of the CCI. The CCI has developed a tool to collect key data and transmit this directly to the shortlisted ESCOs.
The ESCO realizes a more detailed (free) audit and makes a preliminary proposal for the energy performance and financing.
Establishment of the EPC contract (the CCI assists the customer where necessary)
Drafting and signature of the EPC contract, based on a standard contract, between the ESCO and the enterprise customer
Financing of the works and reimbursement based on the guaranteed savings
Implementation of the energy savings guarantee
Execution of the works by the ESCO
Guaranteed operations and maintenance of the site, for the total contract duration
Follow-up of the guaranteed performance

The main technical areas that are covered in the audits are heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting, hot water production and office equipment.

The average implementation time is 6 to 18 months. 90% to 95% of the savings are used to reimburse the investment.

The service is targeted at about 2000 enterprises with an annual energy consumption of minimum 30.000 €/year (rather medium sized than small enterprises).
The addressed market is as follows:

Target group	Number of enterprises	Total annual energy consumption	Typical target
Hotels	307	53 M€	5, 4 and 3* of > 100 rooms
Health	312	23 M€	Elderly homes of > 50 beds, private hospitals and clinics
Distribution	504	34 M€	> 350 m2 for food sector, otherwise > 600 m2
Logistics	170	9 M€	2500 m2 if cold storage, otherwise > 5000 m2
Office buildings	676 (+- 2 M m2)	32 M€	Owner/manager of > 3000 m2

No data is available for the Industry sector. For this sector the number of projects will in any case be quite limited.

Organization and Partnerships

None

Beneficiaries

Beneficiaries:

Small and Medium Sized Enterprises

Operational Support:

Project facilitation through the Program Delivery Unit

Financial Support:

Free energy audit

Program Delivery Unit

The CCI Nice Côte d’Azur is the program delivery unit of the Eco’Energies programme that was launched in September 2014.

The unit operates as programme marketer, aggregator, facilitator and financial advisor.

Its core activities include:

Marketing of the program towards the target audience of SMEs
Identification of the energy savings potential
Introduction of possible ESCOs
Facilitation of the process of contractual agreement between the ESCO and the SME
Assistance with the follow-up of the project

For organising the Eco’Energies programme, the CCI employs a staff of 2 full time equivalents (FTE), of which one half time project coordinator. They are funded on CCI internal budgets.

Program Delivery Unit Box

Legal Structure:

Governmental public administrative body

Shareholders:

CCI Nice Côte d’Azur

Staff Requirements:

Less than 5 full time employee

Operational Costs:

Less than 1 million EUR

Impact on Public Balance Sheet:

Low

Financial Details

Funding Mechanism

Delivery Unit Funding:

+- 200 k€

Projects Funding:

Projects are funded by the SME, through bank loans or by the ESCO. Projects are eligible for white certificates. This is a subsidy scheme in which energy savings project generate certificates that can be traded. Under such a system, producers or suppliers of electricity, gas and oil are required to undertake energy efficiency measures for the final user that are consistent with a pre-defined percentage of their annual energy deliverance. If energy producers do not meet the mandated target for energy consumption they are required to pay a penalty. The white certificates are given to the producers whenever an amount of energy is saved whereupon the producer can use the certificate for their own target compliance or can be sold to (other) parties who cannot meet their targets.

Results

The first projects are ongoing. There is no data available yet on investment volumes or savings.

Contacts

Chambre de Commerce Nice Côte d’Azur

CS 11259

20, Bld Carabacel

06005 Nice Cedex 1

France

Contact : Jean-Christophe Clément

Telephone:

0800 422 222

E-Mail:

energie@cote-azur.cci.fr

Website:

http://www.cote-azur.cci.fr/energie

Sources

http://www.cote-azur.cci.fr/Services-aux-entreprises/Produits/Eco-Energi...
Jean-Christophe Clément, Présentation projet Eco’Energies, La solution pour réduire votre facture énergétique, @ESKIMO international workshop WebConf, 10 June 2015
Interview Jean-Christophe Clément by Lieven Vanstraelen, August 2015

Glossary

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