Tools and Mechanisms Fostering EU GCC Cooperation on Energy Efficiency

Abstract

In order to respond to the need for European Union (EU)-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) clean energy cooperation and provide a practical instrument fostering such activities, the EC External Relations Directorate General has launched the project "Creation and Operation of an EU-GCC Clean Energy Network". To the best of our knowledge, there are no practical tools and instruments to guide structured discussion on EU-GCC clean energy cooperation avenues, acting as catalyst and element of coordination. Aim of this paper is to present the first outcomes of the Discussion Group "Energy Demand Side Management (DSM) and Energy Efficiency (ENEF)" of the Network. Indeed, there exist a significant potential for promoting cooperation EU-GCC on ENEF & DSM and specific areas of cooperation of mutual benefit, which are identified and discussed in this paper. The key message is the importance of taking action over discussion for promoting cooperation on ENEF & DSM, in the sharing of related expertise and knowledge and in raising general public awareness and collaborating in the framework of common project activities.

Financial schemes for energy efficiency projects: lessons learnt from in-country demonstrations

“…The objective of the proposed methodology is mainly to ensure capacity building and Relevant national and regional stakeholder engaged in the energy efficiency financing procedure have varying levels of knowledge, skills, and capacity for energy efficiency financing planning and implementation (Karakosta, 2016). As such, it is important to meet diverse needs of different case studies, learn from each other and to strengthen collaboration and engagement among all the involved parties (Karakosta & Flamos, 2016;Karakosta et al, 2018;Papadopoulou et al, 2011;Papadopoulou et al, 2013). Beyond benchmarking the performances and sharing of best practices, this engagement will enable national stakeholders to take possible advantages of synergies and economies on scale, especially through bundling or aggregating projects to increase bankability of projects and develop business cases.…”

Building synergies between EU and GCC on energy efficiency

“…The methodological approach presented under this section was developed and adopted within the framework of the project "Creation and operation of an EU-GCC Clean Energy Network". This network is organized based on five thematic areas on clean energy related issues, one of them being the discussion group on energy efficiency and demand side management (DSM) (Papadopoulou et al, 2011a). The proposed approach utilizes a number of proven tools, widely used in the international literature, in order to elicit its findings from the participating stakeholders.…”

“…The efforts for the establishment of an EU-GCC cooperation on energy and environment, had been initiated many decades ago. Throughout the years, certain tools and mechanisms have been developed (Papadopoulou et al, 2011a); however, EU-GCC collaboration still faces a number of challenges (Flamos et al, 2010;Flamos, 2012).…”