Energy Performance Contracts (EPCs): a pathway to sustainable energy solutions is a comprehensive pan-European study published by Andersen European Energy Industry Group. The report explores the growing importance of EPCs as a strategic tool to drive energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and meet the EU’s ambitious climate targets.

The insight contextualizes EPCs within the broader global and EU policy landscape, highlighting their relevance amid soaring energy costs, environmental concerns, and regulatory pressures. EPCs are long-term agreements where Energy Services Companies (ESCOs) implement and finance energy-saving measures, with remuneration tied directly to verified savings.

The document delves into EPC structures, roles, obligations, and financing mechanisms, emphasizing how they shift performance and financial risk from building owners to ESCOs. It analyzes the regulatory frameworks across several EU countries – Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands – examining legal barriers, tax implications, and successful case studies in both public and private sectors.

Andersen European Energy Industry Group has also identified challenges impeding wider adoption, such as inconsistent definitions, procurement constraints, and financing gaps. Technological innovation (e.g., AI, IoT, BIM), supportive EU legislation, and developing best practices as drivers for increasing EPC use all contribute to an optimistic perspective for the future.

This insight calls for harmonization of standards, greater public-private cooperation, and robust digital integration to realize EPCs’ full potential in securing a greener and more resilient energy future for Europe.

📑 Read the full report to explore how legal harmonization, digital tools (AI, IoT, BIM), and public-private collaboration are setting the stage for EPCs to become a cornerstone of Europe’s green transition.