Panel 5. Business models and financing: established practice and innovative approaches
This panel focuses on the key drivers of industrial/SME related energy efficiency investments from the perspective of the corporate investors as well as from the perspective of financial institutions. It seeks to address 3 major topics:
(1) How to overcome the (internal) barriers to investment and boost the industrial energy efficiency project pipeline
The panel will look at the key drivers of energy efficiency investments in the industrial/corporate environment.
Recent studies suggest that the discussion regarding the barriers to investment typically focus on factors which are external to the company (being market related, policy or technology related or being related to a lack of capital/financing supply. The company internal barriers to and drivers of industrial energy efficiency investments have been addressed so far to a much lesser extent.
Also, market participants representing financial institutions and investment funds support the hypothesis that there is a broad range of financing options available for industrial energy efficiency investments, but often they are not used due to a lack of projects.
The panel will discuss on the basis of best practice examples and also new/innovative business models how to address the internal barriers to energy efficiency investments with priority and with adequate measures, creating the basis to develop a pipeline of industrial/corporate energy efficiency investment projects which can meet the available financing offer.
(2) How to set up a successful business case for corporate/industrial energy efficiency projects
The panel will also discuss the components and preconditions to build a successful business case for industrial energy efficiency projects which meet the needs of decision makers/company owners and internal as well as external capital providers.
(3) Using the right financing instrument
The panel will discuss (with support of best practice examples) which financial instruments (mature and newer instruments/approaches) to support corporate/industrial energy efficiency investments are best suited for larger industrial corporates and which are best suited for SMEs.
As reference material for this panel we strongly recommend the study "Energy Efficiency – the first fuel for the EU Economy. How to drive new finance for energy efficiency investments" (www.eefig.com, study available in 5 languages), developed by the Energy Efficiency Financial Institutions Group, an expert group co-convened by the European Commission, DG ENER and UNEP FI in late 2013.
Panel Leaders
Bettina Dorendorf, KfW, Germany
Bettina is working in the product development/product management unit for energy efficiency related promotional programs. She has been seconded to the European Commission/DG ENER as national expert from the German promotional bank KfW (November 2013 - December 2015), where she was working in the unit for financial instruments and economic analysis (ENER A 4). She has been working as a project leader at DG ENER for the concept and work process of the international expert group named "EEFIG - Energy Efficiency Financial Institutions Group", which had been mandated by the European Commission/DG ENER to discuss and develop a report on how to scale up energy efficiency investments in the building sectors as well as industrial/corporate environment (www.eefig.com; the co-convener for this work was UNEP FI).
Bettina has more than 20 years of experience in commercial banking (structured finance/securitisation and corporate/project finance) as well as promotional banking (focus on energy efficiency)."
Roman Doubrava, European Commission, Directorate General for Energy, Unit C.3. – Energy Efficiency
Roman Doubrava’s work focuses on the development and implementation of EU energy policy, particularly in relation to energy efficiency, financing, financial instruments and investments, including the Horizon 2020, the European Local Energy Assistance (ELENA) facility and EEFIG. Roman was previously the Director of Energy Centre Bratislava.
