Security of gas supply and electricity risk preparedness: Securing the EU’s energy system through efficiency

The current geopolitical challenges underscore the critical importance of reducing our reliance on imported fossil fuels. By prioritising efficient buildings, the EU can lessen its vulnerability to price fluctuations and supply disruptions, strengthening its energy security.

In addition to providing ready-for-market solutions, energy efficiency reduces dependence on fossil fuels, supports climate adaptation, and aligns with the shift toward electrification.

To ensure a strong, coherent, and effective energy security framework, Efficient Buildings Europe urges the European Commission to:

• Establish a clear link between delivering zero-emission building stock in Europe by 2050 and energy security.
• Acknowledge the potential of energy efficiency solutions in energy security and recognize these as strategic technologies for energy security.

Recommendations on the Gas Supply Regulation

• Article 4: The best practices and guidelines shared among the Gas Coordination Group should include short and long-term measures to reduce gas consumption.
• Article 6: Energy efficiency measures are highlighted as potential alternative measures to security of gas supply requirements for protected consumers. However, their implementation falls on the Member States whereas ‘ensuring gas supply for protected consumers’ is a gas undertakings’ duty. The implementation of energy efficiency measures should fall on the latter as Member States will not be incentivised to take action. This could take the form of specific energy efficiency improvement targets for gas undertakings, to be realised to the benefit of protected consumers.
• Article 8/Annex VI: Align preventive plans with the national energy efficiency target and the National Building Renovation Plans. In the description of preventive measures, include ‘energy efficiency measures’ (point 5). Apply the Energy Efficiency First principle as defined in Directive EU/2023/1791 to any additional energy infrastructure project. (Annex VI point 7). Include requirements for Member States to evaluate and implement energy efficiency measures as part of their infrastructure planning. This could involve encouraging retrofits for buildings in grid-congested area.
• Article 17: the monitoring reports must include a chapter on progress in energy efficiency and demand side flexibility and their impact on energy security.
• New article: Introduce provisions for public awareness campaigns and education programs on energy efficiency, targeting households and businesses to encourage behaviour change and the adoption of energy-saving technologies.

Recommendations on Risk-preparedness in the Electricity sector Directive

The Directive should adopt a similar approach to the Gas Regulation and add a crisis prevention dimension to the risk preparedness plans. The preventive dimension of the plan should incentivise energy demand reduction and management measures.

Any long-term investment foreseen as part of the plans should respect the Energy Efficiency First Principle as defined in Directive EU/2023/1791. This would avoid investments into quickly stranded assets.

Demand side flexibility should be better included in the plans, adding aggregators to the list of relevant stakeholders to consult in the Annex for example.

Use efficiency measures to drive resilience and adaptation to climate change

Member States’ preventive strategies should better assess the potential impacts of climate change on energy and water consumption in the building sector and include solutions to address them.

Background information and studies

On the positive impacts of energy efficiency in buildings on grid development and peak demand management see here:

• Save an extra 0,2 billion tons of GHG emissions by 2030, allowing to reduce emissions by 10% beyond current emission targets. Lower peak demand also means that coal and gas can be phased out of the energy mix by 2040.
• Save €44,2 billion every year in distribution grid investments and decrease shadow costs associated with transmission congestion by almost 4 times.

Insulation and heat loss rate: Ecofys’s analysis on building envelope performance shows that a well‑insulated building can reduce its U‑value by up to 50% compared to a non‑insulated counterpart. Lower U‑values translate directly into higher thermal time constants. For example, a wall assembly with external insulation can reduce heat loss by roughly 50–70% during a heating disruption. While the exact “retention time” depends on specific conditions (climate, thermal mass, etc.), the study indicates that such an envelope may maintain indoor temperatures for several hours longer—delaying indoor cooling by 2–3 times relative to non‑insulated buildings. These quantified reductions in heat loss not only lower heating demand but also improve energy security by lessening reliance on external gas or electricity supplies.

Energy efficiency auctions and participation in capacity markets: While auctions are known as a common mechanism to support the uptake of renewable energy, this market-based mechanism can be used to fund energy efficiency projects. Some examples can be found in Europe (last page of this Odyssee Mure paper). However, most of these schemes do not have a pre-determined level of savings.

Several examples of energy efficiency projects participating in capacity market auctions exist nonetheless (e.g. with a predetermined amount of savings). Two capacity markets – one managed by the ISO for New England (ISO-NE) and another managed by PJM – allow efficiency resource providers as well as providers of other demand resources such as distributed generation and demand response to participate in the markets and compete with electric generators. They have the following characteristics: No need to demonstrate additionality, 100kW minimum, savings to be realised within 3 years, clear measurement and verification requirements to demonstrate savings. “All available evidence to date suggests that the efficiency resources that have been bid into capacity markets has been as or more reliably delivered than generation and demand response resources.”