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A Step into the Unknown - Feed-in Tariff for Energy Saving

2007Scientific articles and academic literatureEnergy and transport Environment and climate change Innovation and growth
Over the last decades there has been a heated debate about the comparative advantages of quantity versus price policy instruments in the field of sustainable energy (see definitions in the paper). In renewable electricity generation (RES-E) these mechanisms are represented by renewable quota systems coupled with tradable green certificates, and by feed-in tariffs (FITs), respectively. Recently the interest of energy efficiency policy makers has also been drawn by quantity policy instruments. In a few European countries white certificate schemes have been introduced, which combine energy savings obligations with tradable certificates for energy savings from verified projects. Following the promising results delivered by feed-in tariffs for the support of RES-E, it could be interesting to explore the feasibility and possible set up of a feed-in tariff for end-use energy savings.
The paper takes as a point of departure the comparative analysis of quantity systems versus price systems with regard to RES-E. It builds on the theoretical debate of prices-versus-quantities and reviews the results achieved by instruments from these two categories in RES-E. The paper reviews other more recent financial support schemes used for end-use efficiency and energy savings such as wire charges and demand response bidding. Taking into account the particularities of end-use energy efficiency projects, the paper subsequently discusses the feasibility and implications of introducing a feed-in type of support for end-use energy efficiency and energy savings. The paper finally discusses the viability for integration of a feed-in tariff for energy savings with a renewable one with the aim of achieving maximum cost effectiveness and improving the coherence of sustainable energy systems. The paper is intended to open a larger debate on a possible FIT for energy savings, and in particular on some theoretical and practical implementation issues, such as measurement.
Bertoldi P, Rezessy S. A Step into the Unknown - Feed-in Tariff for Energy Saving. In Conference Proceedings: Proceedings of the 2007 ECEEE Summer Study. Vol. 1. Paris (France): ECEEE; 2007. p. 93-102. JRC45992
2010-01-28
ECEEE
JRC45992
Language Citation
ENGBertoldi P, Rezessy S. A Step into the Unknown - Feed-in Tariff for Energy Saving. In Conference Proceedings: Proceedings of the 2007 ECEEE Summer Study. Vol. 1. Paris (France): ECEEE; 2007. p. 93-102. JRC45992
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