Overview
Efficiency First comes down to prioritising investments in energy efficiency or other demand-side resources whenever they would cost less or deliver more than investing in supply or networks. It is a key principle of the Energy Union, endorsed in its Governance Regulation and in the Clean Energy for All Europeans package. Implementing Efficiency First can strengthen the EU and national policies, as well as stakeholders’ investment plans, in line with the energy and climate objectives. It can help roadmap such as the European Green Deal to act where it can be the most effective.

However, Efficiency First is still a recent development in policy and decision making, and to date has not been widely and consistently applied in Europe for lack of clear definition and understanding of its practical implications. Enefirst is a Horizon 2020 project providing support to Member States and stakeholders in implementing Efficiency First in practice.

Many promising ideas and approaches have been developed and implemented in a variety of countries around the world. This webinar will look into the application of the Efficiency First principle in different geographic areas, building on examples identifying their rationale, the stakeholders involved, the approach developed to implement Efficiency First, the success factors and barriers as well as their replicability and scalability potential.

Who should attend?
Policymakers and implementers, regulators, experts from energy companies and utilities, experts in investments in energy efficiency in buildings, project developers from ESCOs, engineers and consultants, development managers and sustainability professionals who want to understand the state of play of the Efficiency First principle in the energy sector and learn from international experiences.

Why attend?
You will gain insights into the application of the Efficiency First principle through practical examples, in particular:
• What does Efficiency First mean in practice?
• Why is Efficiency First key to meeting our climate objectives and implementing the EU Green Deal?
• How has Efficiency First been successfully implemented internationally?
• What are the key success factors to the implementation of Efficiency First? And what are the barriers?
• How can these examples be replicated?

Agenda:
10:00 Welcome and introduction, Caroline Milne (BPIE)
10:05 Introduction to the enefirst project by Jean-Sébastien Broc (IEECP)
10:10 Implementing Efficiency First in practice: what it means, implies, and what we can learn from existing examples, Zsuzsanna Pató (RAP)
10:30 Guest presentation: Social Constraint Management Zones (SCMZ) in the UK to harvest local demand flexibility, Charlie Edwards (SSEN)
10:45 Guest presentation: Implementing the Fabric First Approach in the Better Energy Communities scheme in Ireland, John Flynn (SEAI)
11:00 Q&A, Discussion with participants
11:15 Conclusions & next steps