SEIFA is boosting the sustainable industrial transition

Sustainability and the transition to a low-carbon, more resource-efficient, and circular economy are key in ensuring the long-term competitiveness of the EU economy. The industry represents the most energy-intensive sector: steel, cement, and manufacturing productions account for 21% of human emission – one and a half times as much as all the world’s cars, trucks, ships, and planes combined. To reduce emissions, the industrial sector will need to displace fossil fuel-based energy inputs with low-to-zero emissions, along with improved heat integration and energy efficiency.

Current levels of investment are not sufficient to support an environmentally and socially sustainable economic system. According to the Impact Assessment for the amendment of the Energy Efficiency Directive, in order to reach the EU’s 2030 climate and energy target, about €379 billion of investments are needed annually: mostly in energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, and infrastructure.

Reorienting private capital to more sustainable investments requires a comprehensive shift in how the financial system works. Surveys suggest that companies and investors attention for investable climate mitigation projects is rising; they are increasingly searching for investments that take into account environmental and social considerations.

On the 28th of October, SEIFA partners already launched the regional/national aggregators for investable industrial projects in the CEE region, including Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Project aggregators (deal originators) will create large and standardised pipelines of investable sustainable energy industrial projects.

SEIFA presents sustainable energy investing as an economic opportunity. The project will help open up new employment and investment opportunities laying the pathway for economic growth. Greater advisory and technical assistance will contribute to a larger pipeline of sustainable energy projects. The developed platform with sophisticated digital tools will provide detailed sustainability and greenhouse gas emissions assessments, value creation roadmaps, performance monitoring, and sustainability reporting.

SEIFA will boost the transition to a low-carbon and resource-efficient industry. Within the project duration, it will trigger at least 200 GWh/year of primary energy savings generating a 200.000 tCO2-eq/year reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and no less than 2500 GWh/year with at least 2.500.000 tCO2-eq/year emission reduction within 5 years after the project’s 30 months period.

Photo by David Cristian on Unsplash