Russia’s Emerging ESCO Market: Prospects and Barriers for Energy Efficiency Investments

Maria Garbuzova () and Reinhard Madlener
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Maria Garbuzova: E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN), http://www.eonerc.rwth-aachen.de/fcn

No 6/2012, FCN Working Papers from E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN)

Abstract: The Russian Energy Service Company (ESCO) market emerges rapidly due to the new energy efficiency legislation that has been implemented since 2009. However, a clear identification of the Russian ESCOs, comparable to those operating in the Western markets, remains rather difficult. Hence, aside from the independent ESCOs identified, further energy service-providing companies were within the scope of this survey. This paper delivers, to the best of our knowledge, the first systematic empirical investigation of the Russian ESCO industry, taking into account experiences from the international ESCO markets. Building on the insights gained from reviewing the existing international and Russian academic and non-academic literature on the ESCO concept, an explorative, questionnaire-based survey among 161 Russian energy companies and organizations was conducted. Twenty eight usable responses were returned, corresponding to a response rate of 17%. Our findings show that the new energy efficiency legislation addresses and supports the state sector. There are almost no state measures supporting the commercial ESCO sector. Most of the projects are financed either through ESCOs’ own funds and direct loans to customers, or by the customers themselves. In contrast, Russian banks rarely provide direct loan financing for energy efficiency projects of ESCOs, but rather offer financial leasing contracts. The contractual form “guaranteed savings”, which is generally more applicable in mature ESCO markets, is gaining in importance, while “shared savings” is barely used.

Keywords: Energy Efficiency; Financing; Energy Service Company; ESCO; Energy Performance Contracting; EPC; Energy Service Providing Company; ESPC (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 50 pages
Date: 2012-07, Revised 2012-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cis, nep-ene and nep-tra
Note: revised September 2012
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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