The EBRD is boosting energy efficiency in public buildings.
Imagine an entire community is dependent on one reservoir for all its water needs. People use water from the reservoir to drink, wash, work and cook with. Now imagine that, as this community develops, the amount of water it needs begins to grow rapidly. Unless the community becomes more careful in how it uses its water, it will soon have major supply problems.
This is what is happening in Morocco with energy, where consumption is expected to double by 2020. Though facing an enormous challenge, Morocco can meet its energy needs through a combination of large-scale energy efficiency measures and investment in renewable energy.
It’s a matter of finance
The difficulty, however, is that improving energy efficiency in public buildings, such as hospitals and schools, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), requires a lot of money to plan and pay for the measures to be implemented, money that local authorities and SMEs often don’t have access to.
Investing in energy efficient measures
The Energy Service Companies (ESCO) model can provide Morocco with a solution to this problem. ESCOs allow SMEs and municipal authorities to invest in energy efficiency measures with flexible payback periods. They recover their investment through the energy and cost savings achieved.
With the help of a technical cooperation project funded by the southern and eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) Multi Donor Account, the EBRD hired an international consultancy firm to examine the Moroccan market and outline a roadmap to launch a SME and public sector ESCO programme in the country. The resulting report made a range of recommendations, from indicating the most appropriate sectors for an initial ESCO programme to the best financing structure for the Moroccan market.
Before long Moroccan SMEs and public sector authorities should have access to the ESCO-enabled funding they need to properly invest in their country’s energy future.