The deadline for Article 8 compliancy is nearing, and the time to act is now if you want to avoid incurring penalties.
Will you be compliant by December 2019?
Here is all you need to know about Article 8, and how to take the first step towards becoming Article 8 compliant.
What is the Energy Efficiency Directive and Article 8?
Energy efficiency is one of the most cost-effective ways to improve supply, reduce energy-related emissions, assure affordable energy prices, and improve economic competitiveness. In order to improve and encourage energy efficiency in Europe, the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED; Directive 2012/27/EU) came into effect on 4 December 2012. The EED outlines a framework and guideline of measures for Member States to use to work towards the EU’s energy efficiency 2020 target, and beyond.
One of the measures of the EED as outlined in Article 8 is the requirement of energy audits and energy management systems for large enterprises. An energy audit is a systematic procedure that looks at the overall energy consumption of an organisation, identifies cost-effective energy saving opportunities, and reports the findings.
An energy audit is a systematic procedure that looks at the overall energy consumption of an organisation, identifies cost-effective energy saving opportunities, and reports the findings.
Who is affected by the December 2019 deadline?
Article 8 requires large enterprises to fulfil their energy audit obligations. While small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and households are encouraged to conduct energy audits and implement energy saving practices, this legislation, and therefore deadline, is only applicable to large enterprises in EU member states. Large enterprises are identified by:
- Having at least 250 employees OR
- Annual turnover exceeding EUR 50 million AND
- Annual balance sheet exceeding EUR 43 million
How Member States are implementing Article 8
Determining if Article 8 applies to your company and then reaching compliance can be a difficult process, especially if your company is multinational. This is because different Member States have different interpretations of what constitutes a large enterprise. Multinationals are required to comply with the legislation of every Member State they operate in, thus making Article 8 compliancy an involved and lengthy process.
Additionally, there are also differences between Member States in terms of how boundaries are defined for multinationals. In some countries companies are required to include all international operations when calculating total consumption, where others specify that only energy consumed within national borders be considered. Many Member States have also allowed a sampling approach to the audits. This means that companies with multiple operational sites can conduct an audit on a representative sample and not on all sites.
What happens if you are not complaint by December 2019?
The EED requires Member States to implement penalties for Article 8 non-compliance. The penalties are determined by the Member States and therefore differ from country to country. Most of the penalties are financial and range between EUR 10 000.00 – EUR 200 000.00.
Maximpact energy auditing services
The deadline for Article 8 compliance is 5 December 2019 in most countries. In order to comply, you need to submit or have available an energy audit report that meets all national requirements. Maximpact can assist in formulating a compliancy plan, and then conducting the energy audit and providing an energy audit report.
Maximpact can assist in formulating a compliancy plan, and then conducting the energy audit and providing an energy audit report.
A compliancy plan includes details such as:
Once the plan has been formulated, Maximpact’s team of experts will proceed with the energy audit to understand how energy is used, where waste occurs and where opportunities for improvement exist. The outcome of the energy audit will be an Article 8 Energy Efficiency Directive compliant report.
Tailor-made energy efficiency strategies
As part of our energy efficiency offerings, and in addition to energy audits, we are able to develop energy-efficient strategies to suit all operations by integrating and incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to help with energy forecasting, energy management, renewable energy storage and future sustainable development. AI monitors, collects data, controls, evaluates and manages energy consumption in buildings. It can control energy usage during high and low peak hours, identify and signal problems, and detect equipment failure before it occurs. It can also compress and analyse large sets of data to optimise energy consumption.
AI applications have a huge long-term impact, allowing you to intelligently and sustainably monitor, plan and control future energy consumption, leading to energy savings, compliance, cost and carbon footprint reductions. “By implementing Artificial Intelligence companies can improve their business performance and increase profits in the long term by up to 33%.”– Gerard McNulty, Maximpact Energy Efficiency Expert.
It is imperative for large enterprises to understand their Article 8 obligations and how it impacts them in every country of operation. Contact our team of experts to ensure your compliancy by December 2019.