On 25 March 2021, the BOE published Order TED/275/2021, of 18 March, establishing the obligations to contribute to the National Energy Efficiency Fund in 2021 (hereinafter, the “TED/275/2021 Order”).

Order TED/275/2021 complies with Article 70.1 of Law 18/2014, of 15 October, by establishing:

a) The energy savings target in the year 2021; and
b) The savings obligations corresponding to each of the bound parties and their financial equivalence.

- Context

Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council created a common framework to promote energy efficiency within the European Union and established specific actions aiming at achieving significant cumulative energy savings in the 2014-2020 period.

According to Article 7 of this Directive, each Member State was supposed to establish a system of energy efficiency obligations whereby energy distributors and/or retail electricity companies would be obliged to reach the indicated savings target by 2020 by achieving annual savings equivalent to 1.5% of their annual energy sales from 2014 onwards.

Consequently, Law 18/2014 of 15 October 2014 approving urgent measures for growth, competitiveness and efficiency was passed, which established a national system of energy efficiency obligations under which gas and electricity marketing companies, wholesale petroleum product operators, and wholesale liquefied petroleum gas operators are assigned an annual energy savings quota.

As a result of the establishment of this system, the annual savings target, the percentages to be distributed among the corresponding bound parties and the resulting savings quotas or obligations and their financial equivalence have been defined by Ministerial Order on a yearly basis.

To ensure compliance with the annual energy saving obligations, the bound parties must make an annual financial contribution to the National Energy Efficiency Fund, to be paid in four equal payments over the course of 2020, no later than 31 March, 30 June, 30 September, and 31 December, for the amount resulting from multiplying their annual savings obligation by the corresponding financial equivalence.

This Fund allows the implementation of economic and financial support mechanisms, technical assistance, training and information or other measures to increase energy efficiency in the different sectors and help achieve the established savings target. These measures may be co-financed with other sources of funding, including the European Funds.

Given that Directive 2012/27/EU has been revised by Directive (EU) 2018/2002, extending the scope of the Energy Efficiency Obligations Scheme to a new obligation period from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2030, in order for the EU to achieve its 2030 energy efficiency targets and fulfil its commitment to place consumers at the heart of the Energy Union, it has been necessary to extend the validity of the national system of energy efficiency obligations established in article 69 of the aforementioned Law 18/2014, of 15 October, by Royal Decree-Law 23/2020, of 23 June, approving measures in the field of energy and other areas for economic reactivation.

- Obligations to contribute to the National Energy Efficiency Fund in 2021

The financial equivalence for the year 2021 has been set at 1.5950 million euros per ktoe saved, or 137,170 euros per GWh saved, based on the estimated average cost of mobilising the investments in all policy sectors necessary to achieve the annual savings target.

- Remuneration value of the contribution cost to the National Energy Efficiency Fund to be considered in the calculation of the PVPC

The value of the contribution cost retribution to the National Energy Efficiency Fund to be considered in the calculation of the PVPC has been set at 0.000235 €/kWh.

- Methodology used to assign savings obligations and contributions to the National Energy Efficiency Fund in the year 2021.

First, Annex I of Order TED/275/2021 establishes the methodology used to assign the savings obligations, as seen below:

Where:
–  The energy sales relating to each bound party, indicated in the previous paragraph, correspond to:

• In the case of gas and electricity traders, to their final energy sales turnover at national level to final consumers, considering their activity as a whole.

• In the case of wholesale operators of petroleum products and liquefied petroleum gases, to their final energy turnover sales at national level for subsequent retail distribution, and to final consumers, considering their activity as a whole.

– The C coefficient corresponds to 0.48. This value has been established taking into account that in order to comply with the provisions of article 7 of Directive 2012/27/EU in 2021, given the current economic situation and the savings expected for this year, it is not considered necessary to require an increase in the contribution compared to the previous year.

Furthermore, Annex II of Order TED/275/2021 specifies the contributions to be made by each trader to the National Energy Efficiency Fund in 2021.

The Order will come into effect the day after its publication in the BOE, that is, March 26.

Ignacio Puig
Energy Area