Energy Servies Companies in Europe: Assembling the Puzzle - Preliminary Analysis of Results to Date from the First European ESCO Database

A recent survey of energy service companies (ESCOs) is the EU-25 has indicated that the ESCO industry is still in its infancy stage and that major differences exist in the development of the ESCO business among the various countries. With a few notable exceptions, such as Germany, Austria, and Hungary and to certain extent France, ESCO industries are still struggling to get off the ground. Major differences exist among Member States not only in the development of national ESCO industries, but also in terms of actual type of ESCO projects (sectors, sizes, etc.) and their implementation (contractual terms, financing, etc.). The paper builds on and summarizes the first results of an ongoing in-depth survey of ESCO businesses in Europe (EU-25 plus candidate countries and selected neighbouring countries) and analyses a selection of ESCO projects, both ongoing and completed.JRC.H.8-Renewable energie