Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Barcelona, it has only been adopted by very few
. The Sol Solar
example shows how an established local policy framework mechanism inspired a
ST company to experiment using the ESCO model in an untapped market. The
diffusion of this technology, as well as solar photovoltaic, throughout Barcelona
“
innovators
”
s
residential buildings depends on the proper implementation of the soon-to-be
extended STO. It is expected to provide the adequate mechanisms to foster the
installation of both types of solar technologies on the roofs of existing buildings.
We suggest that the updated version of the STO provide for a special fund to help
cover initial installation costs in order to reduce the risk that most small ESCOs face
when taking on a project and help to kick-start the market. Then, as solar tech-
nology prices fall and citizen awareness is generated, this fund should be gradually
phased out to allow the market to become self-sustaining. Providing loan guaran-
tees may also be an effective way to reduce
'
nancial risk for ESCOs.
5 Conclusions
“
This chapter introduces the ESCO model as an instrument to overcome the
energy
”
ef
and analyzes the case study of Barcelona, both from the public and
private perspectives. The aim is to provide, based on the analysis of the interna-
tional and national experience, what are the recommendable instruments for the
further development of the ESCO market in Spain.
Our analysis has identi
ciency gap,
ed weaknesses in the ESCO ecosystem of the following
nature: Administrative, Technical, Financial, Informational and Market-related.
Thus, our conclusions will be organized into these categories.
5.1 Administrative
Our interviews with the actors involved in the Barcelona ESCO ecosystem have
con
cient admin-
istrative structures, both at the city and national levels. First, procurement processes
are too long and not designed to incorporate the distinctive characteristics of the
ESCO model. This produces high transaction costs for ESCOs. Furthermore, based
on recent attempts to carry out ESCO projects, Barcelona
rmed that there are fundamental limitations resulting from inef
s public bidding proce-
dure has been unable to prevent collusion among bidders, leaving many projects
abandoned. Another major administrative issue is the fact that the current city hall
accounting system does not allow for the energy cost savings to be captured by the
fund that pays for the renovation.
We
'
nd it very necessary for the Spanish government to eliminate the present
barriers to the development of the ESCO market. In that respect, local city
council/Provincial governments may be more agile than the Spanish government to
overcome these barriers as they have a much better understanding of the local
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