Analyse der Entwicklung des Marktes und Zielerreichungskontrolle für gesetzlich verpflichtende Energieaudits

Translated title: Analysis of the Development of the Market and Goal Achievement Monitoring for Legally Required Energy Audits – Final Report for the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA)

The German Government has set itself ambitious climate and energy policy goals. As medium-term goals, for example, greenhouse gas emissions are to be reduced by 40 percent of 1990 levels by 2020, primary energy requirements by 20 percent compared with 2008, and electricity consumption by 10 percent compared to 2008. Energy productivity is to be increased by at least 2.1 percent per year. To achieve the goal of increasing energy efficiency, the European Union has adopted the Energy Efficiency Directive 2012/27/EU, which must be implemented by the Member States. Among other things, all companies that do not count as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are required to carry out an energy audit according to DIN EN 16247-1. The German Government transposed this requirement into national law with an amendment to the EDL-G on 15 April 2015.

In collaboration with the Institute for Resource Efficiency and Energy Strategies (IREES), adelphi evaluated the cost-saving impact of these mandatory audits on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. While doing so, adelphi focussed particularly on evaluating their administrative execution by BAFA and on possible effects of the audit obligation on the market for energy services in Germany. With the help of a questionnaire and a series of personally conducted interviews with BAFA staff responsible for the energy audits, adelphi was able to generate insights into the implementation of the energy auditing obligation.

In addition, the sample of BAFA itself and a detailed company survey of just under 1,000 companies were the subject of a more detailed analysis of the achievement of the goal of compulsory energy audits and its diverse utilisation by companies. The energy services market analysis was conducted via expert interviews carried out by adelphi with the most important actors in the industry. Based on the findings of the analyses, and on the many contacts with companies, industry associations and service providers, policy recommendations were finally drawn up that could lead to a more targeted implementation and a higher degree of target achievement for the following audit period.