The Renewable and Sustainable Energy Systems Lab of the Technical University of Crete, the national leader of the European initiative Trust EPC South in Greece, held the first gathering of the National Discussion Platform (NDP-GR) on the 18th July 2016 at the premises of the Union of Hellenic Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Athens.
The project’s challenges, approach and expected outcomes were briefly presented. Following to the presentation of the National Market Insight Report, which was conducted by the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Systems Lab based on desk research, official reports analysis and 45 interviews with the whole EPC value chain, the dialogues focused on the current status of the Greek EPC market, the opportunities and barriers faced from the different perspectives.
Participants shared their experience and lessons learnt from existing case studies. The limited access to funding, the lack of trust amongst the different actors in the value chain, the lack of understanding of the EPC models in the tertiary and financial sector and the unstable regulatory framework were identified as the main barriers.
The debates included potential solutions on how to mitigate market and regulatory barriers for energy efficiency (EE) and EPC investments in the private tertiary sector, covering different aspects and the different point of views of each stakeholders group. Demonstrating existing good examples of EPC projects will mitigate the concerns towards EPC models, while contracts with guaranteed results based on the energy performance are considered more reliable. The public sector could lead providing flagship examples. The existence of a credible and standardized framework to build and assess an EPC project could eliminate the lack of trust. The availability of specialised bank products, simplified processes, also loans with favourable conditions and lower guarantees might help the market uptake. The need for public funding to mitigate risks and for tax incentives was also noted. All participants agreed on the need for targeted training and capacity building activities along with the demonstration of best practices. Also, experience and existing tools from other EU projects can be used to increase acceptability and confidence and help the development of widely accepted protocols and methodologies. Finally, the uptake of the Greek economy will facilitate the development of the EPC market, as well.
To learn more about the European Initiative Trust EPC South go to http://www.trustepc.eu/gr
