INVEEST: four best practices to support your energy transition project

To launch your energy transition project, it is essential to be able to defend it in front of your employees as well as the people who will fund it, whether they belong to the company or not. Indeed, funding can often block the implementation of a project – and can, when not handled skilfully, delay projects. Here are a few best practices to argue in favor of your project and convince investors.

1) Taking into account the company’s context and strategy

A frequent obstacle to the implementation of energy transition projects is that there are not seen as startegic by the top management. However, an energy transition project can bring many strategic benefits: for example by improving competitiveness or by helping cost cuttings.
The company’s energy strategy and its key indicators should also be considered: energy savings or CO2 emissions avoided. From there, you need to identify potential triggers and evaluate the impact of your project on key performance indicators.
What other criteria should I take into account? Through France Relance, ADEME targets projects with the best ratio of tons of CO2 saved per euro invested, while the BPI focuses on job creation. These criteria may be of interest to your investors and further reinforce your case.

2) Prevent performance risks

In the case of third-party financing, the risk of project performance can be a major obstacle. To control this risk and reassure your investor, you can use the Contrat de Performance Energétique (CPE – Energy Performance Contract). In that case, the energy efficiency operator commits to a rate of reduction of your energy consumption. If the energy performance objective is not met, the operator is asked to pay a penalty to the company. If not, the benefits are shared between the two parties.

3) Create confidence on financial aspects

Another common obstacle to financing energy transition projects is the payback period.
Check that all the dimensions of the project have been integrated in the calculation of its real profitability: have you taken into account the non-energy benefits such as the improvement of productivity or the reduction of maintenance costs? This can lead to a decrease in payback time.
You can also use financing solutions such as grants or leasing, which will preserve the CAPEX and therefore improve the payback time.

4) Make a case by using specific examples

Support your argument with specific examples of projects carried out elsewhere, including details on the amount of savings achieved.

To learn more on how to support your energy transition project, download our guide here.