Valuing and communicating the multiple benefits of energy-efficiency projects

Panel: 1. Policies and Programmes to drive transformation

Authors:
Catherine Cooremans, Université de Lausanne, Groupe Ecologie Industrielle, FGSE / IDYST, Switzerland
Clemens Rohde, Fraunhofer Institute for System and Innovation Research ISI, Germany

Abstract

Many benefits other than mere energy savings accrue in energy-efficiency projects. Commonly referred to as “non-energy benefits” (NEBs), they include important core business benefits for industrial companies, such as improved product quality or reduced risks. A reduction in GHG emissions is another frequently observed benefit of energy-efficiency projects. Similar to energy benefits, NEBs translate into financial benefits for the investor.

In order to increase the chances of energy-efficiency investments, NEBs should be included in investment appraisal. Unfortunately, this is often not the case due to a lack of method, expertise and evidence base. As described in the report Capturing the multiple benefits of energy efficiency (IEA, 2014:137) “Because so few studies have been undertaken in this area, methodologies for quantifying wider benefits from energy efficiency measures in industry are still at the inception stage”.

Within this context, the H2020 project M-Benefits (2018-2021) has developed a Toolkit to “Valuing and Communicating the Multiple Benefits of Energy-Efficiency Projects”, with the goal of increasing the capacities for actual implementation of energy-efficiency measures in industry and services. The Toolkit includes an analytical and communication method (originally described in Cooremans, 2015), a user-friendly software, and training tools to facilitate the use of the method by energy-efficiency engineers.

M-Benefits implementing partners started applying the Toolkit to several pilot projects. It is the first time in the field of energy efficiency, that a common method is applied ex-ante to various industrial energy-efficiency projects to identify NEBs and value them. The goal of this paper is to describe the case studies carried out in the framework of M-Benefits and to compare and analyse their results, which confirm the existence of non-energy benefits and their importance for raising the business case of energy-efficiency projects.

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