More than Ronaldo - How 5 innovative Portuguese companies drive energy efficiency

More than Ronaldo - How 5 innovative Portuguese companies drive energy efficiency

How to drive energy efficiency markets?

1. Make energy efficiency projects bankable
2. Gain client trust by delivering energy savings as promised

How that works?

During last years, energy efficiency experts in Europe and US, backed by a 1,5 billion EUR investor network, have worked together to increase confidence into investing in energy efficiency - serving companies and investors alike.

The result is the ICP framework, which assembles best practices and existing technical standards into a set of Protocols that define a clear roadmap for developing projects, determining saving estimates, and documenting and verifying results. Members of the ICP Project Developer and Quality Assurance network can apply the ICP framework and receive an ICP's Investor Ready Energy Efficiency™ (IREE™) international certification that insures best practices, the right professionals and third-party validation are used to deliver high-quality projects that clients and investors can bank on.

Many innovative and open minded ESCOs, engineering firms and assurance providers are already part of the ICP PD and/or QA network - and we want to introduce them to you ... here are 5 innovative Portuguese companies.

And we have asked them to tell us (and you) the reason why they have decided to join the ICP Project Developer and/or Quality Assurance network!

1. RdA Climate Solutions, contact Jorge Rodrigues de Almeida
2. Engie Portugal, contact Miguel Silva
3. SmartProcess, contact António Sanfins
4. Ecoinside, contact António Cunha Pereira
5. SmartWatt, contact Jorge Araújo

And here is what they have told us...

RdA Climate Solutions

“RdA Climate Solutions became an ICP Project Developer and Quality Assurance Assessor in order to demonstrate the quality of our work and help our clients to archive more and better finance for their energy efficiency projects. We believe that using IREE international certification in our projects will push more investments.”  

Engie Portugal

“Energy Performance Contracts are mature and date back from James Watt steam engines.
If companies consider outsource specialized services, there is no reason not to consider the outsource of Industrial Utilities or Energy Efficiency to specialized companies, due to capex, opex, and risk management. So far EPCs haven’t reached mainstream adoption. ICP aims to address 2 major barriers: trust and finance.

• The IPC logo is a warranty of its technical reliability
• It is a short-cut to deliver smaller projects where the investment would not justify detailed due diligence carried by Banks.”

SmartProcess

“SmartProcess has decided to become an ICP certified project developer was to ensure factors of differentiation and quality in relation to others markets offers. The market consultancy in this field is characterized by the existence of a lot of supply and therefore differentiation is an important fact.”

Ecoinside

“ICP Europe is an important tool to give a quality and trust stamp to energy efficiency projects. As so it’s natural and important for Ecoinside to be a partner of ICP both as project developers or quality assurance assessors.”

SmartWatt

“We consider that became an ICP certified project it’s a stamp of excellence for our projects. It gives our clients and partners the necessary confidence to go ahead with the energy efficiency projects.”

These companies can deliver to clients and investors what this little video about ICP shows

• standardised, transparent and structured development of projects
• access to finance by making projects bankable
• standard process methodology and documentation to reduce risks and transaction costs for Industry, Street Lighting, District Energy and Buildings.

Planned to be a blog series, we will introduce further companies across Europe in the coming weeks - stay tuned.

How to join the ICP PD and/or QA network?

For more information on how to join the ICP Project Developer and/or Quality Assurance network, please check here.
You can also contact Jorge Rodrigues de Almeida, ICP Europe Director or Quitterie de Rivoyre, ICP Europe Project Manager for more information.
AND - training and certification is free as ICP Europe is co-funded under the EU Horizon 2020 programme!

In the meantime, you can find here some further background information about the ICP framework, the ICP Europe and the team. EEIP is proud to be part of this team.

• The Investor Confidence Project: The Time is Now By Rod Janssen
• Depleting stupidity. By Dr. Steven Fawkes
• Message to the investor community: Be that "bridge over troubled water". By Rod Janssen
• Risk minimization for energy efficiency projects. By Daniel Schoeler

ICP was part of the recommendations of the "Energy Efficiency Financial Institutions Group" (EEFIG) in its landmark report "Energy Efficiency – the first fuel for the EU Economy: How to drive new finance for energy efficiency investments". EEFIG itself was established 2013 by the European Commission Directorate-General for Energy (DG Energy) and United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI).

Further top innovative companies...

• 5 innovative UK energy efficiency project developers and quality assurance providers
• How Greece drives energy efficiency: 5 innovative companies

Stay tuned! Best ideas for energy efficiency and energy transition...