White certificates: the effects of the 2021 guidelines

The paper presented at the 2022 ECEEE summer study international conference on white certificates. It follows previous works available on this website and aims to summarising the effects of the 2021 guidelines on the scheme. Why am I publishing it on my blog after one year? Well, I was too busy to do it last June and then I forgot… Better late than never, and in any case not much has changed in the meantime. 2022 has not been a good year for white certificates. 2023 will perhaps get some better, judging by the first six months. But this will be… in a future paper! 😉

The Italian White Certificates scheme (WhC) was introduced in 2001 and has been effectively working since 2005. It has been characterised by the coverage of all sectors and energy efficiency solutions, and many flexibility options in place (e.g. non-obliged – a.k.a eligible – parties, tradable market for white certificates, bankability, flexibility on obliged parties targets, etc.).

With more than 29 million tonnes of oil equivalent (toe) of energy savings cumulated by the end of 2021, it has considerably contributed to the national energy efficiency targets.

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White certificates in Italy: will it overcome the huge challenges it has been facing in the last three years?

eceee summer study

The paper on white certificates in Italy I presented at the 2019 ECEEE conference. The paper goes through the whole life of the scheme, highlighting pros and cons of each phase, and tries to offer some insights to answer the question: will the scheme overcome the huge challenges it has been facing in the last three years?

I’ve been writing on the Italian white certificate scheme for many years now. Many papers are available on this blog. The present one, and the associated slides used for the speech at ECEEE summer study, are available below.

My idea is that the answer to the afore mentioned question can be positive. However, it requires the capability to find the right balance between precision and stringency on the one hand and the willingness to undergo a strong revision of the scheme on the other. FIRE is working hard to support the Italian policy makers and institutional stakeholders to find a way. What will be the future? Well, that’s for another paper…

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White certificates in Italy: lessons learnt over 12 years of evaluation

additionality in the italian white certificates scheme

The peer-reviewed paper and the presentation on the lessons learnt over 12 years of evaluation on the Italian white certificate scheme  presented at the 2018 IEPPEC conference in Vienna. Both the main results and the issues arisen over the years are illustrated, together with a focus on the evaluation practices and outcomes.

Energy efficiency obligation schemes (EEOs) are used in many EU countries as a policy measure to reach energy efficiency targets. Some of the first EEO (UK, Italy, France, Denmark) have been capable to reach positive results over the years, as shown by the ENSPOL and EPATEE projects. Continue reading →

White certificates as a tool to promote energy efficiency in industry

white certificates issued per sector in italy

The peer-reviewed paper and the presentation on the Italian white certificate scheme as a tool to promote energy efficiency presented at the 2018 eceee conference in Berlin. Both the main results and the issues arisen over the years are illustrated, together with a focus on the industrial sector.

Energy efficiency obligation schemes (EEOs) are used in many EU countries as a policy measure to reach energy efficiency targets. Some of the first EEOs (UK, Italy, France, Denmark) have been capable to reach positive results over the years, as clearly demonstrated by the ENSPOL project. The Italian mechanism, in particular, is an interesting example of white certificate scheme (WhC), since it is one of the most long-lasting schemes (operatively started in 2005), has ambitious targets, covers all sectors and energy efficiency solutions, and has many flexibility options in place (e.g. non-obliged parties, tradable market, bankability, etc.).
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