On July 18, the Catalan Energy Cluster celebrated a new edition of the CEEC Business Lunch, a periodical event which brings together renown personalities in the energy sector to discuss the most relevant topics. This time the key-note speaker was the Deputy General Director of Energy Efficiency of the Ministry of the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge of the Spanish Government, Jacobo Llerena. The high representative of the Ministry shared his vision on the Energy Savings Certificate mechanism, one year after it was launched in Spain. Llerena also took the opportunity to announce the release of the Energy Savings Certificates’ new catalogue, which got out the same day. 

The Ministry representative began his intervention by referring to the energy saving targets that Spain committed to with the European Union, which will be "increasing" in the coming years. According to Llerena, the energy saving targets, measured in ktep, will go up by 44% until 2030 in relation to the period 2014-2020. The EU allow for these objectives to be covered through CAE, up to 90% of the savings in 2026. 

Following this, Llerena commented on what the Energy Savings Certificates (CAE) mechanism represented for the sector and the changes it is triggering. According to the representative of the Ministry, this is "a paradigm shift" that "returns the initiative to the private sector and economic operators". A fact, he said, that is in line with the latest energy efficiency directives such as the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) in the European Union. 

Release of the CAE’s new catalogue 

Llerena also talked about the CAE’s catalogue, one of the core aspects of the mechanism. He did so on the day that the Spanish Government published the new catalogue, which represents an increase of 62 measures comparing to the previous one, reaching a total number of 114. Llerena highlighted the incorporation of measures on hybrid heat pumps, cold production, heating networks, outdoor lightning or sustainable mobility. 

These new published measures may trigger "a substantial increase in requests" for CAE as stated by Llerena himself. The intention of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge is that the new catalogue provide the market with a new boost which keep the figures going up. “We have gone from 50 certified GW at the end of May to 200 GW this week", he said. 

After the business lunch, the half hundred attendees from the energy sector and energy efficiency divisions were allowed to ask their questions to the Ministry representative around the development of the CAE mechanism.