As promised, we are back with the CAEs. Because no, we are not going to leave you lost in the sea of doubts that this whole system entails. In today's chapter we answer all your questions about the actors involved in the CAEs ecosystem: who is who in this system, how do each of the actors act, how can I get CAEs as a company?
Stick around, we'll unmask all the players on this game board. But wait! If you missed the first chapter, go back and find out what CAE are and how you can access them.
Let's get started!
Obligated parties
It would include all those energy companies that are obliged to achieve certain energy savings figures per year. Within this group would be gas and electricity traders, or wholesale operators of petroleum products or LPG.
In both cases, they are subject to environmental impact reduction regulations and can either acquire CAEs (or liquidate their own) to meet these targets, or do so through the National Energy Efficiency Fund by making various payments.
Subjects delegated
They would be all those legal entities, of public or private nature, that can assume, totally or partially, the delegation of obtaining new annual energy savings from one or more obligated parties.
But, and beyond this definition, established in the Royal Decree 36/23, regarding the establishment of the "System of Energy Saving CertificatesCAEs)" ... What does this mean?
Simple! In practice, and for everyone to understand, the delegatees would be those companies that can help the obligated parties to obtain CAEs, committing to settle a certain amount per year of these certificates on their behalf.
Now you do, don't you?
And within the possible delegated subjects would be the Energy Service Companies (ESCOs), qualified to develop energy efficiency projects in various sectors, generating savings that can be certified and transmitted to the obligated subjects, as well as public and private entities, which can undertake energy saving measures, certify them in the system and sell these CAEs. Hospitals, universities, municipalities and non-obligated private companies would be in this group.
However, what are the requirements for a company to be designated as a delegatee?
- It must have been accredited by the National Coordinator (relax, we're going with that now).
- It will not assume, in any case, the annual emission reduction obligation of the obligated entity.
- In addition to the obligated parties themselves, it is the only entity accredited to participate in the auction mechanism called by the Secretary of State for Energy.
- In no case may legal entities that may participate directly or indirectly in the design, organization or management of the CAEs system be accredited as delegates.
All the requirements and obligations of the delegated entities are defined in article three of Order TED 815/2023 (https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2023-16734) and the request by the companies to be accredited as such can be made through the electronic site of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge(https://sede.miteco.gob.es/portal/site/seMITECO/ficha-procedimiento?procedure_suborg_responsable=202&procedure_etiqueta_pdu=null&procedure_id=1030).
Savings owner
This is the person or legal entity that has made the investment in one or more energy efficiency actions likely to generate savings that are transformed into CAEs. However, it may transfer the ownership of the savings to a third party in exchange for a consideration.
End user
The end user would be the person who obtains a positive impact from one or more energy efficiency actions. In the vast majority of cases, it coincides with the original owner of the savings.
And on the part of the Administration, who intervenes?
We are sure you were asking yourself this question. Of course, this whole system for generating energy savings is a very useful tool for reducing emissions and complying with environmental commitments, but who is in charge of regulating it, who supervises it and ensures its proper compliance?
Beyond the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, there are different actors that not only influence this process, but are also decisive for the game to be played. Do you want to know who they are? Or rather, who are they?
Regional Managers
As you may have guessed... these are the entities in charge of managing the CAEs system at the regional level.
Among its functions are the verification and validation of the application for obtaining CAEs, the issuance of the favorable report and number of CAEs obtained corresponding to the amount of annual final energy savings and the prescription of CAEs in the National Register of the CAE System.
In other words, it will be the first line of contact to which the obligated parties, and especially the delegates, will have to turn to in order to begin the process of obtaining CAEs resulting from their energy efficiency actions.
National Coordinator of the CAE System
Do you remember that the delegated subjects had to be designated by this figure? You will have guessed then that this is one of the functions of this administrative body that is responsible for ensuring the proper functioning of the CAEs System.
Energy saving tester
No more and no less than the entity accredited by ENAC (National Accreditation Entity), in charge of checking that the performance is correct and that the declared energy savings have been achieved.
How to become a delegated subject?
And if you have come this far, we have no doubt that the CAE System arouses more than curiosity in you and you probably want to take your energy efficiency performances to the next level and become a delegated subject, qualified to obtain CAEs.
Bingo! Here's a good summary of the requirements needed to qualify to become a delegate subject and, therefore, to qualify for the four-acronym certificates that are so fashionable.
Technical Requirements:
- To have at least 6 professionals with EQF** 6 or more with technical training. Of these, 2 must have 3 years of experience in energy efficiency.
- To have at least two professionals with EQF 6, with a background in law, business administration, economics, or related disciplines and at least one of them with more than 3 years of experience.
- Be able to prove the title of delegated subject in another country of the European Union for at least 3 years.
- To have 8 professionals with EQF 6.
- Be in possession of ISO 9001 (https://www.aenor.com/certificacion/calidad/iso-9001 ) covering the delegated subject activity.
Economic-Financial Requirements:
- Not to have debts with the Administration.
- Not having declared bankruptcy proceedings.
- To have equity of 0.5 million euros.
- Be able to prove experience of more than three years in the sector, a turnover of more than one million euros and have a Civil Liability insurance of at least one million euros.
- In the case of not having a turnover of more than one million euros, experience of more than three years and a Civil Liability insurance of at least two million euros would be valid.
And if at this point you are wondering what Smarkia can do to help you achieve CAEs... we will tell you about it in the next chapter! Although... did you know that our platform can optimize different variables of your consumption that translate into a constant and automatic improvement that has a direct impact on the generation of CAEs?
So that you don't have time to get bored until the next installment and you can start thinking about obtaining CAEs for your company, we leave you with a question... how do you think you can obtain more certificates thanks to a remote management system?
The countdown to the next chapter begins. Tick tock, tick tock...
*Its functions and actions correspond to the General Directorate of Energy Policy and Mines of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, according to Royal Decree 36/2023, of January 24).
**Common reference system that allows European countries to compare their qualifications, in order to improve transparency, comparability and transferability of citizenship qualifications issued in accordance with Member States' practices.
