The revised Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) was published in the EU Official Journal http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2023/1791/oj on September 20, 2023 and has entered into force as of October 10, 2023. First adopted in 2012, the directive was updated in 2018 and now in 2023 has again been revised to ensure that the EU’s 2030 target of reducing GHG emissions by at least 55% (compared to 1990) can be met. EED establishes ‘energy efficiency first’ as a fundamental principle of EU energy policy, giving it legal-standing for the first time. This means that energy efficiency must be considered by EU Member States in all relevant policy and major investment decisions taken in the energy and non-energy sectors.
Some notable changes include:
• Establish for the first time an EU legally-binding target to reduce the EU’s final energy consumption by 11.7% by 2030 (relative to the 2020 reference scenario). This translates to an overall EU energy consumption target of at least 763 Mtoe for final energy and 992.5 Mtoe for primary energy by 2030.
• Increase annual energy savings from currently at 0.8% to at least 1.3% in 2024-2025, then 1.5% in 2026-2027 and 1.9% in 2028-2030. That’s an average of 1.49% of new annual savings for the period from 2024-2030
• Mandate that EU Member States prioritize vulnerable customers and social housing within the scope of their energy savings measures
• Introduce an annual energy consumption savings target of 1.9% for the public sector as a whole
• Extend the annual 3% buildings renovation obligation to all the levels of public administration
• Introduce a new obligation to monitor the energy performance of data centres, with an EU-level database collecting and publishing data
• Promote local heating & cooling plans in larger municipalities with a population above 45,000
