- aggregator
means independent aggregator as defined in Article 2, point (19), of Directive (EU) 2019/944;
- ambient energy
means ambient energy as defined in Article 2, point (2), of Directive (EU) 2018/2001;
- cogeneration
means the simultaneous generation in one process of thermal energy and electrical or mechanical energy;
- cogeneration unit
means a unit that is able to operate in cogeneration mode;
- contracting authorities
means contracting authorities as defined in Article 6(1) of Directive 2014/23/EU, Article 2(1), point (1), of Directive 2014/24/EU and Article 3(1) of Directive 2014/25/EU;
- contracting entities
means contracting entities as defined in Article 7(1) of Directive 2014/23/EU and Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/25/EU;
- data centre
means data centre as defined in Annex A, point 2.6.3.1.16, of Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008;
- distribution system operator
means distribution system operator as defined in Article 2, point (29), of Directive (EU) 2019/944 as regards electricity or Article 2, point (6), of Directive 2009/73/EC as regards gas;
- economically justifiable demand
means a demand that does not exceed the needs for heating or cooling and which would otherwise be satisfied at market conditions by energy generation processes other than cogeneration;
- efficient district heating and cooling
means a district heating or cooling system meeting the criteria laid down in Article 26;
- efficient heating and cooling
means a heating and cooling option that, compared to a baseline scenario reflecting a business-as-usual situation, measurably reduces the input of primary energy needed to supply one unit of delivered energy within a relevant system boundary in a cost-effective way, as assessed in the cost-benefit analysis referred to in this Directive, taking into account the energy required for extraction, conversion, transport and distribution;
- efficient individual heating and cooling
means an individual heating and cooling supply option that, compared to efficient district heating and cooling, measurably reduces the input of non-renewable primary energy needed to supply one unit of delivered energy within a relevant system boundary or requires the same input of non-renewable primary energy but at a lower cost, taking into account the energy required for extraction, conversion, transport and distribution;
- electricity from cogeneration
means electricity generated in a process linked to the production of useful heat and calculated in accordance with the general principles set out in Annex II;
- energy
means energy products as defined in Article 2, point (d), of Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council;
- energy audit
means a systematic procedure with the purpose of obtaining adequate knowledge of the energy consumption profile of a building or group of buildings, an industrial or commercial operation or installation or a private or public service, identifying and quantifying opportunities for cost-effective energy savings, identifying the potential for cost-effective use or production of renewable energy and reporting the findings;
- energy distributor
means a natural or legal person, including a distribution system operator, who is responsible for transporting energy with a view to its delivery to final customers or to distribution stations that sell energy to final customers;
- energy efficiency
means the ratio of output of performance, service, goods or energy to input of energy;
- energy efficiency first
means energy efficiency first as defined in Article 2, point (18), of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999;
- energy efficiency improvement
means an increase in energy efficiency as a result of any technological, behavioural or economic changes;
- energy management system
means a set of interrelated or interacting elements of a strategy which sets an energy efficiency objective and a plan to achieve that objective, including the monitoring of actual energy consumption, actions taken to increase energy efficiency and the measurement of progress;
- energy performance contracting
means a contractual arrangement between the beneficiary and the provider of an energy efficiency improvement measure, verified and monitored during the whole term of the contract, where the works, supply or service in that measure are paid for in relation to a contractually agreed level of energy efficiency improvement or another agreed energy performance criterion, such as financial savings;
- energy poverty
means energy poverty as defined in Article 2, point (52), of Directive (EU) 2023/1791 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
- energy savings
means an amount of saved energy determined by measuring or estimating consumption, or both,, before and after the implementation of an energy efficiency improvement measure, whilst ensuring normalisation for external conditions that affect energy consumption;
- energy service
means the physical benefit, utility or good derived from a combination of energy with energy-efficient technology or with action, which may include the operations, maintenance and control necessary to deliver the service, which is delivered on the basis of a contract and in normal circumstances has proven to result in verifiable and measurable or estimable energy efficiency improvement or primary energy savings;
- energy service provider
means a natural or legal person who delivers energy services or energy efficiency improvement measures in a final customer’s facility or premises;
- energy system
means a system primarily designed to supply energy-services to satisfy the demand of end-use sectors for energy in the forms of heat, fuels, and electricity;
- engagement strategy
means a strategy that sets objectives, develops techniques and establishes the process by which to involve all relevant stakeholders at national or local level, including civil society representatives such as consumer organisations, in the policy-making process, with the goal of increasing awareness, obtaining feedback on such policies and improving their public acceptance.
- entrusted party
means a legal entity with delegated power from a government or other public body to develop, manage or operate a financing scheme on behalf of that government or other public body;
- European standard
means a standard adopted by the European Committee for Standardization, the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization or the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, which is made available for public use;
- FEC
means all energy supplied to industry, to transport, including energy consumption in international aviation, to households, to public and private services, to agriculture, to forestry, to fishing and to other end-use sectors, excluding energy consumption in international maritime bunkers, ambient energy and deliveries to the transformation sector and to the energy sector, and losses due to transmission and distribution as defined in Annex A to Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008;
- final customer
means a natural or legal person who purchases energy for own end use;
- final user
means a natural or legal person purchasing heating, cooling or domestic hot water for their own end use, or a natural or legal person occupying an individual building or a unit in a multi-apartment or multi-purpose building supplied with heating, cooling or domestic hot water from a central source, where such a person has no direct or individual contract with the energy supplier;
- high-efficiency cogeneration
means cogeneration meeting the criteria laid down in Annex III;
- implementing public authority
means a body governed by public law which is responsible for the carrying out or monitoring of energy or carbon taxation, financial schemes and instruments, fiscal incentives, standards and norms, energy labelling schemes, training or education;
- individual action
means an action that leads to verifiable and measurable or estimable energy efficiency improvements and that is undertaken as a result of a policy measure;
- international standard
means a standard adopted by the International Organization for Standardization, which is made available for public use;
- micro-cogeneration unit
means a cogeneration unit with a maximum capacity below 50 kWe;
- microenterprise
means an enterprise as defined in Article 2(3) of the Annex to Recommendation 2003/361/EC;
- obligated party
means an energy distributor, retail energy sales company or transmission system operator, which is bound by the national energy efficiency obligation schemes referred to in Article 9;
- overall efficiency
means the annual sum of electricity and mechanical energy production and useful heat output divided by the fuel input used for heat produced in a cogeneration process and gross electricity and mechanical energy production;
- participating party
means an enterprise or public body that has committed itself to reaching certain objectives under a voluntary agreement, or that is covered by a national regulatory policy instrument;
- PEC
means gross available energy, excluding international maritime bunkers, final non-energy consumption and ambient energy;
- policy measure
means a regulatory, financial, fiscal, voluntary or information provision instrument formally established and implemented in a Member State to create a supportive framework, requirement or incentive for market actors to provide and purchase energy services and to undertake other energy efficiency improvement measures;
- power-to-heat ratio
means the ratio of electricity from cogeneration to useful heat when operating in full cogeneration mode using operational data of the specific unit;
- public bodies
means national, regional or local authorities and entities directly financed and administered by those authorities but not having an industrial or commercial character;
- retail energy sales company
means a natural or legal person who sells energy to final customers;
- small-scale cogeneration unit
means a cogeneration unit with installed capacity below 1 MWe;
- smart metering system
means smart metering system as defined in Article 2, point (23), of Directive (EU) 2019/944 or intelligent metering system as referred to in Directive 2009/73/EC;
- split incentives
means the lack of fair and reasonable distribution of financial obligations and rewards relating to energy efficiency investments among the actors concerned, for example the owners and tenants or the different owners of building units, or owners and tenants or different owners of multi-apartment or multi-purpose buildings.
- statistically significant proportion and representative sample of the energy efficiency improvement measures
means such a proportion and sample which require the establishment of a subset of a statistical population of the energy savings measures in question in such a way as to reflect the entire population of all energy savings measures, and thus allow for reasonably reliable conclusions regarding confidence in the totality of the measures.
- substantial refurbishment
means a refurbishment the cost of which exceeds 50 % of the investment cost for a new comparable unit;
- system efficiency
means the selection of energy-efficient solutions where they also enable a cost-effective decarbonisation pathway, additional flexibility and the efficient use of resources;
- total useful floor area
means the floor area of a building, or part of a building, where energy is used to condition the indoor climate;
- transmission system operator
means transmission system operator as defined in Article 2, point (35), of Directive (EU) 2019/944 as regards electricity or Article 2, point (4), of Directive 2009/73/EC as regards gas;
- useful heat
means heat produced in a cogeneration process to satisfy an economically justifiable demand for heating or cooling;