The French market of energy services and its outlook

The trend of rise of energy prices, the will of CO2 emissions abatement, the increasing dependence of Europe with respect to energy supplies are as many factors in favor of the development of energy services and in particular of the energy efficiency ones. The European directive under preparation in 2011 fixes an energy saving goal of 1.5% per year to the energy suppliers. It aims at promoting the energy audits, at renovating the public buildings and at developing the communicating meters. France is already committed in all these topics with ambitious programmes. The mechanism of energy saving certificates has already entered its second phase with a 345 TWh goal by the end of 2013, i.e. 6 times higher than in the previous programme. Energy saving is the new eldorado of energy service suppliers. Energy suppliers (EdF, GDF-Suez..) are broadening their offers with energy diagnostic and energy consumption control tools. Exploitation and installation service companies (Cofely, Dalkia, ETDE, Vinci) and equipment manufacturers (Schneider Electric) count on energy efficiency contracts and public-private partnerships. However, such tools are not fully satisfactory yet and the die is far to be cast. Energy suppliers, operators, fitters and manufacturers are in a head-on competition on energy services. This study analyses the impact of the European directive on energy services. It draws up an appraisal of the mechanism of energy saving certificates and shows the stakes of the second phase. It evaluates the size of the 3 main service market segments (energy supply, exploitation, installation). It analyses the strategy and positioning of the different categories of energy service suppliers, and anticipates the evolutions of the competition game. (J.S.)