EFIEES welcomes the communication on the Energy Union published by the European Commission on 25 February 2015 including the announcement of the upcoming strategy on heating and cooling. We would like to take this opportunity to present key points that should be taken into account while framing the Energy Union concept, especially in the context of heating and cooling.
Heating and cooling account for 45% of final energy use in Europe and have a key role to play in the successful pursuit of the European energy transition. Therefore, a well-designed strategy addressing this sector would be an essential step forward towards achieving EU energy goals: sustainability, competitiveness and security.
Energy-efficiency services play a fundamental role in building a strong heat market in the EU energy transition, while linking supply and demand sides and improving energy efficiency of the system as whole.
In order to build efficient heat markets, a clear legal framework and identified priorities are needed. In the context of the emerging EU strategy for heating and cooling, EFIEES has stressed the need for:
- Improved statistics on heat and modelling tools
- “Pull measures”
- Identifying and addressing barriers to energy efficiency
- Introducing appropriate incentives