The project

SENSEI enables energy efficiency to be rewarded as an energy resource and a new grid service while turning the energy efficiency retrofit project’s value into an investable asset for private financing.

SENSEI combines pay-for-performance (P4P) arrangements with the Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) model and engages in negotiation games with preliminary stakeholders. This offers the possibility for stakeholders to shape the SENSEI business models according to their needs.

In making buildings more energy-efficient and attractive for third-party investors, SENSEI is fostering the business community to contribute to the EU climate goals while avoiding the construction of new power plants and reducing grid infrastructure costs.

Energy-Efficient Buildings

Experience and lessons learned from Pay-for-Performance (P4P) pilots in the US

In the United States, several energy utilities have recently piloted and launched buildings P4P programmes, making use of possibilities offered by energy metering technologies that provide greater certainty over energy savings and drive improved performance. These P4P schemes reward end-users or aggregators for delivering energy savings, measured against a business-as-usual scenario.

Compared to traditional energy efficiency programmes:

The performance risk is shifted from those who fund the programmes (taxpayers or bill payers) to the private sector (energy service providers or aggregators);
The incentive is redirected from installing as many equipment as possible to obtaining as many energy savings as possible.