Energy Efficiency for Europe’s Secretary General Valérie Plainemaison contributed to the European ESCO Conference, organised by Messe Frankfurt as part of the Light + Building trade fair across 11-12 March 2026, which brought industrial energy efficiency and ESCO-led projects into focus.
Valérie presented a selection of case studies from the Energy Efficiency for Europe’s Best Practices brochure in her session on “Energy management solutions led by ESCOs, key enablers for the energy transition and EU competitiveness”. Her presentation highlighted projects from across the EU demonstrating how energy service companies (ESCOs) deliver guaranteed energy and CO₂ savings in industry and buildings.
Discussions and presentations during the conference confirmed growing traction of the ESCO model across EU markets, reflecting increasing uptake of energy efficiency solutions. At the same time, persistent barriers remain, notably the perceived complexity of ESCO-led projects and challenges in accessing public support under existing third-party financing rules within the EU State aid framework.
Overall, the conference provided a valuable platform to showcase concrete project examples whilst underlining the need to address regulatory and financing barriers to further scale investment in energy efficiency across Europe.