Operationalization of an Energy Efficiency Fond and Preparation of a Roadmap for the National Renovation Program

The key objective of this assignment was to support the Government of Azerbaijan in enhancing an energy efficiency (EE) enabling environment in the country by operationalizing an EE fund and developing a roadmap to strengthen the EE policy framework and regulatory environment. As part of this process, Econoler also identified and categorized opportunities for EE investments and interventions in public sector buildings and in other sectors.

The following tasks were carried out under the mandate: 

• Prepare an aggregated overview of potential EE savings in the public building stock by establishing an inventory and providing segmentations by building category;
• Propose a sample of public buildings by category and carry out energy baseline assessments for each category;
• Analyze the prevailing market, legal, and policy barriers in the public building sector and propose possible solutions;
• Prepare an investment concept that outlines existing barriers, areas, and ways of intervention for an EE fund along with viable financial models and instruments to be deployed in the market, sources of capital, target markets, additional services to be provided by the fund, among others;
• Conduct a rapid gap assessment including a roadmap on the development of energy service companies (ESCOs);
• Create preliminary 15-year financial projections for the EE fund;

• Recommend fund improvements and detailed processes for the already identified governance structure as well as to meet management and staffing needs and arrangements;

• Design a package of legal documents, templates, and several methodologies necessary for daily fund activities;
• Develop the administrative arrangements and an operations manual for the EE fund along with a business plan for the first three to five years of fund operations;
• Perform an analysis of policies and institutions, including evaluating gaps and barriers as well as assessing market capacity;
• Prepare a roadmap for the National Renovation Program, which identifies possible EE and low-carbon actions and activities in the buildings sector, provides guidelines on setting reasonable national targets and timelines, and outlines the availability of financing to support renovation initiatives. The roadmap also included options and best practices;
• Provide EE training sessions to key public sector stakeholders and organize knowledge exchange visits in two countries – Bulgaria and Turkey;
• Present the outcomes of the assignment at a closing event organized by Econoler.

Econoler’s vast experience in establishing, operationalizing, and managing EE funds worldwide provided the Government of Azerbaijan with valuable insights and solutions to achieve the long-term financial projections for its EE fund. Additionally, as a result of the project, the government is now equipped with a comprehensive and actionable EE roadmap in the buildings sector.