Focus on energy savings certificates in the tertiary sector
Energy savings certificates, also known as white certificates, are part of a system put in place by the French Ministry for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition in 2006. This system requires that energy providers meet energy saving obligations set by public authorities.
To put it simply, energy providers — the “obligated parties” — must accumulate these certificates in order to offset their activities that, by nature, consume energy. They are encouraged to actively promote energy efficiency to their customers and other energy consumers, such as households, local authorities and professionals.
The system’s fourth three year obligation period came into force on 1st January 2018.
Energy savings certificates are expressed in MWh cumac, “cumac” meaning cumulated and discounted. This unit of measurement represents the energy saved over a piece of equipment’s lifetime according to a standardised calculation presented in the Standardised Operations information sheets.
These certificates have a specific value on a real market. The market was variable in 2016 and 2017, but has now mostly stabilised between €4.5 to €5 per MWh cumac.
Those who buy the certificates are the obligated parties (EDF, TOTAL etc). Alternatively, intermediaries (delegates) may buy the certificates on behalf of obligated parties. We generally address delegates, with whom we have negotiated buyback prices. Our clients therefore collect the equivalent of a subsidy by reselling their certificates. This resale can be direct — from the end customer to the delegate or the obligated party — if the certificates have been approved by a delegate before our installation order has been signed. Clients can also authorise a delegate to resell their certificates by dispensation. This is the case if a discount has been applied to our installation fees. Lastly, the French Environment & Energy Management Agency ADEME is the organisation in charge of inspections for more complicated operations.
The certificates are changing to complement the existing tertiary sector building information sheets, along with those for the industry and retail sectors. These changes mostly concern renovations, as new and extremely lucrative sheets are on their way with the 28th decree in November — in particular, regarding the extension of heat recovery to the entire tertiary sector, which is how the refrigeration industry collected €8 million’s worth of certificates for €80 billion of activity in 2017! Now is therefore the time to get involved, and to get familiar with the valuations.
The simplest solution is to do the calculations with PRIMO FINANCE, who have guaranteed us a sales price of €5 per MWh cumac. Download the brochure for more information. Setting up an account on their website is easy. Once you are connected, you can look at the information sheets explaining the system access conditions, simulate a subsidy, and have your calculations approved by their service. You will need to spend some time reading the sheets (either on this website or the ADEME website), adapting them (there are specific constraints and criteria), and reaping as many benefits as possible — for there are many, and several can be accumulated for any one project. Our partners will also help you create your dossiers. Energy savings certificate contacts could also be of help — in the “Réseau Froid”, for example.
The certificates are paid around 4 months after receipt. The payment may be made to the installer by dispensation. When this happens, the certificates should not be valued as a loss in regards to their true value in our cost estimate, but rather as 10% below their market value, to account for the financial expenses linked to the delayed payment.
Examples of equipment that may make you eligible for a subsidy include: LED lighting (renovated), low temperature radiators, heat pumps, variable speed pumps, and water saving systems (new). Certain projects in the refrigeration industry have been entirely paid for by these subsidies. However, these projects are just related to heating — in particular, heat recovery from existing refrigeration units in retail. These operations give the right to substantial certificates.
We look forward to these spreading to the tertiary sector, including for new works.
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