EIB Working Papers 2019/06 - Promoting energy audits

Energy audits are key to increase investments in energy efficiency This paper assesses the effectiveness of policy interventions in promoting energy audits by relying on evidence from a unique experiment. The findings of the experiment allow us to quantify by how much the probability that firms invest in energy audits increases, as the policy mix changes

Do Firms with Higher Energy Efficiency Have Better Access to Finance?

Improving energy efficiency quickly is key to mitigating climate change and a large part of such improvements has to be implemented in firms. But since most energy efficiency improvements require upfront investments, good access to external finance is important. Theory suggests that information asymmetries may prevent lenders from including energy efficiency into their lending assessment, even though higher energy efficiency makes a firm more cost- competitive and its collateral worth more, especially if stringent climate change mitigation plans are implemented. Empirically, little is known about the impact of energy efficiency on access to external finance. Here we examine for the first time empirically the effect of a firm’s higher energy efficiency on their ability to obtain loans in European Union countries. We exploit a unique firm-level dataset that links a survey from the European Investment Bank on energy efficiency of firms’ building stock and on access to external finance with the ORBIS firm database for European firms. We find that energy efficiency has no effect on the ability of a firm to obtain external financing compared to other indicators on the financial or operational health of the firm. The results reveal an unexploited potential for energy efficiency policy to signal when firms are energy efficient

EIB Working Papers 2020/01 - How can favourable financing improve energy efficiency investments?

Financial instruments and technical assistance are effective in increasing investments in energy efficiency. When these favourable conditions are combined, the probability that firms invest in energy efficiency increases by more than a third. These results provide important insights into measures to increase energy efficiency investments, and how to optimally design them, which is key for EU policy-makers and lending institutions

EIB Working Papers 2019/06 - Promoting energy audits

Energy audits are key to increase investments in energy efficiency This paper assesses the effectiveness of policy interventions in promoting energy audits by relying on evidence from a unique experiment. The findings of the experiment allow us to quantify by how much the probability that firms invest in energy audits increases, as the policy mix changes

EIB Working Papers 2020/01 - How can favourable financing improve energy efficiency investments?

Financial instruments and technical assistance are effective in increasing investments in energy efficiency. When these favourable conditions are combined, the probability that firms invest in energy efficiency increases by more than a third. These results provide important insights into measures to increase energy efficiency investments, and how to optimally design them, which is key for EU policy-makers and lending institutions

Do Energy Efficient Firms Have Better Access to Finance?

Improving energy efficiency quickly is key to mitigating climate change and requires improvements implemented in firms. As these require upfront investments, good access to external finance is important. Theory suggests that information asymmetries may prevent lenders from including energy efficiency into their lending assessment, even though higher energy efficiency increases firm cost-competitiveness and its collateral value. Empirically, little is known about the impact of energy efficiency on access to external finance. For the first time, we examine empirically the effect of a firm’s higher energy efficiency on their ability to obtain loans in European Union countries by exploiting a unique firm-level dataset. We find that energy efficiency has no effect on the ability of a firm to obtain external financing compared to other indicators on the financial or operational health of the firm. The results reveal an unexploited potential for energy efficiency policy to signal when firms are energy efficient

Early adopters of residential solar PV distributed generation: Evidence from Brazil, Chile and Mexico

peer reviewedSubstantial adoption of solar rooftop systems in the residential sector resulting from the implementation of net metering policies can lead to worsening socioeconomic inequalities. This is because of the lack of information on the socioeconomic profiles of distributed solar generators. To fill this information gap and shed light on the determinants of solar photovoltaic distributed generation uptake, this paper aims to identify the profile of the first adopters of solar PV distributed generation by merging different databases. Using multilevel regression analysis, this study investigates how socioeconomic factors, project viability, and neighborhood variables, matter for adopting solar PV distributed generation in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. Results differ across countries, as institutional frameworks matter. In Brazil, adopters live in urban areas and are highly responsive to solar energy potential. In Chile, the size of the project matters. Finally, in Mexico, results show that demonstration effects play a crucial role in adoption. Income as a determining factor is inconclusive. Average spending on electricity matters in all countries. This study highlights the existence of heterogeneity in the distribution of solar distributed generators. To mitigate these distortions, this work suggests some recommendations to improve solar distribution net metering policies in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico