Energy Savings Certificates (CAEs)

Energy Savings Certificates (certificados de ahorro energético in Spanish; since they're specific to Spain, we will use the acronym CAEs in this article) are official documents that certify that a specific action has achieved real final energy savings. But their usefulness goes far beyond the technical field: they make it possible to monetize that savings and transform it into income that helps recover part of the investment made.

In practice, Energy Savings Certificates make it possible to recover part of the energy efficiency investment in in the form of direct income, improving the profitability of projects that would otherwise compete at a disadvantage for investment.

The Energy Saving Certificates system was born as a result of EU energy efficiency policy. Reducing consumption is not just an environmental issue: it is also an economic and strategic necessity. 

Spain imports around  70% of the energy it consumes. Every kilowatt hour that is saved is energy that does not have to be purchased abroad, which reduces dependence on foreign goods and protects companies and the economy against the volatility of international markets. 

To promote this objective, the Spanish government created a mechanism that economically rewards those who invest in efficiency, and that mechanism is the CAE. 

For energy savings to earn a certificate — and eventually income — there are several roles involved:

• Energy companies (sujetos obligados or "required parties"): have the legal obligation to achieve a certain level of energy savings every year. To meet this, they can pay the National Energy Efficiency Fund or buy CAEs on the market. 
• Sujetos delegados or "delegated parties": specialized companies that help energy companies meet their energy savings targets, managing certificates on their behalf. 
• The savings owner: whoever makes the investment, whether it's a company, an industry, or even an individual who undertakes an energy efficiency improvement. 
• The end user: the person who enjoys the savings in their daily life, usually the savings owner themselves (lower consumption, more comfort, more efficient processes). 
• The independent verifier: an accredited technical entity that verifies that the action has been carried out correctly and that the savings declared are real.

The logic of the system is simple: every kilowatt hour (kWh) of final energy saved results in a certificate. 

If a company carries out an improvement that reduces its energy consumption, those savings are calculated using official methodologies with high technical rigor and transformed into CAEs. That company then becomes the owner of the savings, which can be sold through a CAE agreement so that a required party can use it towards its legally required annual savings obligations.  

In this way, an investment in energy efficiency not only reduces operating costs but also generates additional income, improving the project's profitability.

Not all energy efficiency improvements are the same. The system distinguishes two main types:

These are common, easy-to-implement actions contained in an official catalog. They include, for example: 

• Replacing light bulbs with LED technology.
• Replacing old water heaters or thermal equipment.
• Improving insulation.

In these cases, the savings are calculated using predefined formulas which simplify the process.

These are more complex projects, custom designed and mainly for specific industrial processes. 

They require detailed technical studies and a personalized justification of the savings achieved. 

Converting an energy savings improvement into a CAE goes through three clear phases:

1. Identify an opportunity 

Before or after the action is carried out, an agreement (a CAE agreement) is signed with a required party or a delegated party. This step is key to ensuring that the savings can be monetized later. 

2. Execute and verify 

Once the investment has been made, a file (a CAE file) is created and that makes it possible to justify the action and the calculation of the energy savings that it has generated. Subsequently, an independent verifier will confirm that the action has been carried out properly and that the savings actually exist. 

3. The certificate is issued and sold 

The government validates the documentation and officially issues the CAE. This is when the certificate is sold and the company receives the resulting income.

• From a financial point of view, there are several important elements: 
• The price of the CAE is not fixed: it depends on the market and the level of demand among required parties. 
• The recognized savings are not projected over time: i.e., the system does not take into account the useful life of the installed technology, only the savings generated in a calendar year. 
• CAEs are compatible with public funding: they can be combined with other subsidies as long as they do not come from the National Energy Efficiency Fund. 
• CAEs do NOT replace a project's business case of the project, but they can make the difference between executing it or not, especially in actions with adjusted returns.

The general principle is simple: CAEs reward the reduction of final energy consumption versus a baseline situation, not power generation or regulatory compliance. 

Examples that do generate certificates: 

• Thermal insulation in buildings 
• Efficient lighting 
• Renewal of industrial engines 
• Waste heat recovery in production processes 

Examples that do not generate CAEs: 

• Solar PV for one's own consumption (the focus on generating energy, not reducing consumption) 
• Actions carried out to meet regulations.

The value of the CAE system goes beyond profits for an individual company. Encouraging energy efficiency contributes to: 

• Reducing national energy dependence 
• Improving industrial productivity 
• Viable investments that, without this incentive, might be delayed 
• Strengthening local and national industry and related jobs 

In a context of high international competition, greater efficiency is a strategic advantage. 

Investing in efficiency is no longer just a matter of environmental responsibility. Thanks to Energy Savings Certificates, it is also a smart economic decision which improves competitiveness, reduces risks, and converts savings into tangible value.

An agile, reliable, and well-managed CAE system can be one of the key levers to drive a more modern, resilient, and future-proof industry. Once the general framework of the CAE system is understood, it's important explain how Repsol organizes itself to convert this mechanism into real value for its customers.. 

Repsol's Office of Energy Savings Certificates  (OCAE) is our department that centralizes the management and control of the Energy Savings Certificate (CAE) system for the entire Group, supported by the Technical Office (OT) which is where all the technical knowledge on energy efficiency is grouped. Both offices act as a corporate lever to comply with the obligations of Spain's National Energy Efficiency Fund. 

​They were both created in 2023 to comprehensively coordinate the Repsol Group's response to these obligations: grouping the regulatory vision, the identification of savings opportunities, the structuring of projects, the relationship with partners and aggregators, and the technical dialogue with verifiers and government agencies. The OCEA thus becomes the "single point" that aligns the Group's different businesses (industrial, commercial, generation, mobility, etc.) with the efficiency path marked by Spain's PNIEC or National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan. 

In the context of Repsol, the OCEA and the OT are integrated within Repsol's Division of Energy Efficiency (D EE  ), which was created in March 2024 and is structured into three complementary lines of activity aimed at promoting the competitiveness and decarbonization of our customers: 

• Energy and environmental advising, through which the energy performance of organizations is analyzed, identifying opportunities for improvement and defining roadmaps that integrate efficiency, sustainability, and economic viability.  
• ESE (Energy Services Company), which makes it possible to materialize the actions identified through results-oriented execution models, facilitating the implementation of savings and emission reduction actions.  
• OCAE (Office of Energy Savings Certificates), from where the energy savings obtained are managed and valued, helping to maximize the economic return of the actions carried out.  

These three structures rely, at all times, on the Technical Office, which is where we have our technical solvency based on direct operational experience in complex industrial assets of our organization as well as the development and implementation, in recent years, of Energy Saving and Efficiency plans in each of our five industrial complexes operating in Spain. 

At Repsol, we approach energy efficiency as a comprehensive process that combines technical analysis, execution of actions, and valorization of the energy savings generated. This approach allows investments in efficiency not only to result in a reduction in consumption, but also in an additional economic return through Energy Savings Certificates (CAEs), directly influencing the viability and prioritization of projects. 

The starting point is the analysis of energy performance, from which the actions with the greatest impact in terms of savings and technical and economic viability are identified and prioritized. This diagnosis is embodied in an action plan that integrates technical, operational and economic criteria, providing the client with an informed decision making process on the investments to be undertaken. 

The actions identified are executed through results-oriented models, supported by Repsol's direct operational experience in complex industrial assets and the technical knowledge accumulated in industrial and tertiary environments. In this way, efficiency measures are implemented in a manner consistent with the operational reality of the client and with a vision of sustainability over time. 

A central element of the service is the management and valorization of the energy savings obtained. Repsol is responsible for structuring the necessary files, coordinating the verification processes and processing the CAEs associated with each action, assuming the technical, administrative, and regulatory complexity of the system. This allows recognized energy savings to be transformed into economic income, improving the overall profitability of investments and reducing the uncertainty associated with the process. 

The entire process is supported by digital tools that facilitate the management of energy information, the monitoring of actions, and the traceability of the savings generated. These platforms allow the information required in the verification and certification processes to be evidenced in an orderly and transparent manner, providing regulatory certainty and reducing risks in obtaining CAEs. 

For the customer, this approach translates into a simplified management of the CAE system, less administrative burden and greater security in the correct monetization of energy savings. Overall, the service makes it possible to integrate energy efficiency as an economic and strategic decision, in which the reduction of consumption, the mitigation of risks and the valorization of savings through CAE contribute directly to the improvement of competitiveness and the optimization of energy resources.